Bound to Corrupt
by Feather Black
Summary: Even in death, they can't escape their problems. Since Kyoto, both Hisoka and Tsuzuki are in limbo with each other and with themselves. Hisoka's empathy is growing, Tsuzuki tries to come to terms with his inner demons, will their partnership survive?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello and welcome to my first YnM fic. This story takes place after the Kyoto arc in the anime but I have read most of the manga so the extra details should be at least vaguely canon. Uh...just for reference, Kumamoto is part of the Kyushu province, according to the net it has lovely nature parks etc. _

_This fic will mostly explore the relationship between Hisoka and Tsuzuki and I should probably put up a warning for violence, sex, swearing etc, just so everyone's aware of what they're getting into here._

_Also also, I know this is late...but sometimes these things have got to be written, y'know?_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing...one day I might...but that may require a nuclear weapon sized pinch and a team of ninjas._

**The Kumamoto File - 1**

The red moon smothered the land casting sinister shadows over every visible surface as he stepped across the tatami mats and slipped on the geta lying near the doorway. He wasn't sure what compelled him to escape that night but he didn't fight it. He ambled across the grounds of the estate glancing up at the moon, purposefully keeping his eyes cast upwards so he wouldn't have to look at how the crimson colour warped the land. He breathed in deep and felt his chest tighten, like the very air itself held the sinister mood that came with that moon.

He only looked down when the sakura tree came into sight. It was a fleeting image in his peripheral vision but it stood out, was almost iconic in its sadistic imagery. It was a dark gnarled shape against that moon and the sakura blossoms burned bright, falling away in the wind like drops of blood from a stiffened human hand. As he stared at it, his eyes were drawn down by movement under the branches, the silhouette of a man holding onto a woman.

For a moment he thought that they were beneath the tree as lovers, kissing beneath the red moon but as he watched, the man's arm drew upwards holding onto something that glinted sharply in the red light of the moon.

He gasped before he could help it and felt the scream rise in his throat. It stopped as the blade pierced the slackened form of the woman and blood washed across the already crimson night staining it darker than he had ever dared to imagine. His heart pounded in his chest, his ears rang as he watched the man hunch over her. He wanted to run but was rooted to the spot, caught in the childhood fear that if he dared move then the monster would see him.

The man turned, eyes burning cold and silver through the blood and locked onto him.

* * *

><p>"NO!"<p>

Hisoka sat bolt upright and stared blindly at the ceiling as the remnants of the dream churned through him. He was shaking and sweating, the sound of heavy breathing covering every other sound in his tiny apartment. For a few moments he simply sat, letting himself calm down as he finally realised where he was, that the moon of that night was a life time away and he was safe, dead and safe in another life.

He took a deep breath and glanced at the digital clock beside him which flashed neon green in the dark to tell him it was just after 1 in the morning, he'd only been asleep for an hour.

'_I should go back to sleep...' _He thought to himself, glaring at his pillow like it might try to bite him if he laid his head down for another moment. He shook his head.

'_If Muraki's feeling that way tonight then I won't get any sleep.'_

Carefully, he swung his legs out of the little bed into some slippers, thankful somehow that he wasn't on call with Tsuzuki who would make far too much fuss of the same nightmare. Thinking of his partner produced a whole different sort of stress, pushing all thoughts of Muraki to the back of his mind.

Since Kyoto, the pair had been on desk duty for a lengthy recovery period, not because of their fleeting health but because the Chief and the count were worried about the fragile state of Tsuzuki's psyche which had been in jeopardy more than once. Tsuzuki hadn't taken being stuck on desk duty very well and his slacker attitude had been worse than usual. In the last few days, he'd taken to sleeping on the desks in the afternoon or sneaking out to buy sweet cakes down in the streets of Fukuoka.

Of course, neither of them had mentioned what Hisoka had said in the fire and Hisoka had no idea what it meant for his partner, how he'd taken it. He'd been though it all again and again in his mind, wondering what Tsuzuki thought of his ambiguous statement. There was an infinite number of ways to take a statement like that and the problem was, he wasn't even sure what he had meant himself.

Was he in love with Tsuzuki? The guy was clueless, an idiot and always butting into things that didn't concern him...but he had been so kind to Hisoka, had shown him a level of support that just hadn't been there before, it was only natural that Hisoka would latch onto it in some form or another.

He shook his head, it was all too confusing, he needed to clear his mind. Standing, he strode purposefully towards the little closet in his apartment and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He'd go down to the dojo and practice for a few hours, martial arts especially required one to clear the mind and start afresh.

* * *

><p>The day dawned bright and clear, as did all days in the netherworld. The sakura blossoms dropped their delicate petals across the path to the bureau as Tsuzuki ambled in, a half hour late with a doughnut in his mouth. He waved half heartedly at a lounging Terazuma and cheerful Wakaba before knocking on the door to the meeting room.<p>

The door flew open and hit Tsuzuki squarely in the face as he tried to back away. The doughnut he had been carrying in his mouth exploded, splattering the window of the office door with a jam smear. Chief Konoe peered around the door, up towards the now thoroughly jammy face of Tsuzuki.

He frowned.

"You're late!" he yelled, grabbing the side of Tsuzuki's coat and dragging him into the little room.

"Huh? Hey, I didn't know there was going to be a meeting!" Tsuzuki whined, waving at everyone assembled inside.

"You should have been on time anyway," the chief snapped at him, licking his finger where he'd accidentally wiped some jam off of Tsuzuki's coat.

"Hm, I know you like dessert Tsuzuki," Watari said, a broad grin breaking across his face, "but for you to be wearing it now..."

"Oh come on Watari, Chief Konoe opened the door in my face, I'm not so weird!" Tsuzuki threw at him, flustered. He turned to look at the ruined remains on his coat.

"I was really looking forward to that," he said tearfully, taking his designated seat next to Hisoka.

"So what's going on chief?" Hisoka asked, opening one green eye to look at the older man. Tsuzuki chanced a side glance at his partner, searching for the disapproving expression that always followed one of his dessert based escapades but the youth was strangely stoic as he sat before the party. Tsuzuki tried not to visibly turn and gawp at the kid but he started doing a mental assessment anyway, pausing on the dark rings shadowing his partner's bright eyes.

"I'm fine idiot," Hisoka snapped, making Tsuzuki start in surprise. Despite how long they'd worked together, Hisoka's telepathy still caught him off guard occasionally. His eyes travelled hesitantly round to face the cold eyes of his partner. He put a hand sheepishly behind his back and winced when he felt the squelch of doughnut.

Hisoka raised an eyebrow.

Chief Konoe cleared his throat to bring attention back to him. On the other side of the table, Tatsumi, secretary for the Summons Division of Enmacho, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose to show that he meant business.

"We've had word of a strange case situated in the Kumamoto area," Chief Konoe began, bringing out a brown file and laying it on the table. "There have been several murders around that area which looks to be the work of your average serial killer but for the case of one man."

Chief Konoe opened the file and Hisoka's eyes widened as he stared at the picture. For a moment he thought that he was staring at a photograph of his partner but the eye colour was wrong and jaw was just a little too square. Other than that, the resemblance was uncanny. Hisoka frowned as he tried to remember if Tsuzuki had ever mentioned relatives.

"Wow, he looks like me," Tsuzuki said, reaching over the table and pulling the file across to have a closer look.

"Yes," Chief Konoe cleared his throat again, "I must inform you that we did run a background check on this one before assigning the case. As this falls under your area, you have the right to take the case first but I wanted to make sure that your first field job back was something without personal ties."

"So what's so different about this case?" Hisoka asked, purposefully sliding the file back towards Chief Konoe, uncomfortable with the man's appearance.

"According to the records, this man was due to die a couple of months ago. His name appeared on the Kiseki but when he didn't turn up in Meifu, an investigation began into the whereabouts of his soul, revealing that it was still on Earth and still bound to the man's body. He was still alive."

Before he could stop himself, Hisoka's eyes swung round to his partner's face which was strangely unreadable. Carefully, he probed the man's feelings, experiencing the slight discomfort that Tsuzuki felt having been shown a picture so like himself. There were no strong emotions suggesting that he had any particular ties to the man in this case.

"This man is currently in the Kumamoto general hospital. I want you two to investigate the reason for his continued existence," Chief Konoe concluded.

Tsuzuki stood up from the little table and gave a solemn salute.

"Yes sir!"

Hisoka sighed, resting his chin on his hands.

"You'd better get home to shower, there's no way I'm sharing any kind of transport with you covered in doughnut remains," he told the older guardian.

Tsuzuki grinned at his back.

"But it makes this body of mine all the more sweet."

He enjoyed the cold flash of green as his partner whipped round growling and easily dodged the kid's swipe.

"You idiot, I'll give you something sweet," Hisoka yelled, grabbing Tsuzuki's collar and hauling him out the door. Even the cries of 'Tatsumi, save me,' weren't answered as he was yanked through the office and out into the bright light of the netherworld.

* * *

><p>It was raining when the pair appeared in Kumamoto, the sky was an ominous swirling grey and the rain slapped at their backs as they began trudging in the direction of the hotel Tatsumi had booked for them. Tsuzuki was in charge of the map which gave Hisoka a sense of dread. His partner had never shown much aptitude for direction, the paper white tracking birds aside, and Hisoka was worried that they were going to end up in a back alley somewhere despite the fact that this was Tsuzuki's province. As they walked through the cold and wet, Hisoka could feel the first onset of fatigue, a lingering reminder that he'd managed to get little sleep the night before. His feet felt like lead on the concrete, his whole body ached and as they passed through a crowded high street, he could feel the emotions of the people around him like needle pricks.<p>

Tsuzuki frowned at the map, leading them down a winding stairway and through a narrow gap between some houses. If his assumption was correct then the next alleyway would bring them straight out at the hotel entrance. He turned back to tell Hisoka that they'd be there in a minute, a cheerful grin in place despite the rain but when he glanced back, his smile slackened as he caught sight of his partner leaning up against the wall looking disheartened.

Tsuzuki opened his mouth to say something to Hisoka but something held him back. Ever since Kyoto, Tsuzuki had hoped that the boy would be willing to be more open considering what he'd admitted to bring Tsuzuki out of the dark, but if anything, the kid was more closed off than ever. Tsuzuki wasn't sure how to read the signs, did it mean that Hisoka wanted him to back off and not take what was said in Kyoto the way it sounded? Or was it simply that he was scared of something so intimate when his life had been so devoid of affection? The whole thing had Tsuzuki going round in circles, he wasn't even sure how _he_ felt about his blonde partner.

Sensing Tsuzuki watching him, Hisoka straightened, hair plastered to his face, and scowled. He marched forward, trainers spraying puddle water over the residential gardens as he walked, and snatched the map from Tsuzuki who protested feebly and put his hands up when Hisoka shot him another withering death glare.

"We're lost aren't we," he said simply, turning the map until it was facing the right way up.

Tsuzuki could feel the heat rise in his cheeks as he realised he'd been going in completely the wrong direction.

"Uh..." he said, trying to think of an excuse so he wouldn't look like a complete idiot.

"Tsuzuki," the young shinigami said, rolling up the map in a threatening way. Tsuzuki took an automatic step backwards.

'_Such a dark aura...you're in for it Tsuzuki,' _Suzaku helpfully commented in the recesses of his mind.

Hisoka was advancing now, rolled up map raised like a weapon.

"How can you not know where you are in your own province?" Hisoka asked him, real menace in his voice.

"I...uh...don't really come to Kumamoto often..." Tsuzuki confessed, cringing away from the map. Just as Hisoka was raising the map, aiming a well placed slap to the side of Tsuzuki's head, Tsuzuki spotted a light through the rain and gawped. Distracted, Hisoka turned and stared too.

Suddenly, Tsuzuki was smiling and all the anger inside Hisoka evaporated.

"How about we re-group in the cafe?" Tsuzuki asked, turning the brilliance of his smile on the cold eyes of his partner. "I'll buy you a hot drink!"

Tsuzuki watched the burning face of Hisoka for a moment, afraid that this revelation would just fuel the fire of anger but Hisoka's eyebrow had started to twitch. A sure sign that he was about to give in.

He lowered the map and pouted at Tsuzuki.

"Alright, but you're going to have to be the one to talk to Tatsumi about over-expenditure..." Hisoka told him, leading the way through the alley up towards the cafe.

As soon as they'd set foot in the doorway, Tsuzuki was pressing his nose up to the display cabinet, ogling the treats they had in store. Hisoka was already regretting his moment of weakness in letting them seek shelter from the rain here. The place was packed with people and the low buzz of emotions coursing through his system was picking up in intensity, disorientating him.

"Shall I get a table?" Tsuzuki asked from somewhere far away.

"Uh..." Hisoka managed, unable to concentrate on what his partner was saying.

Tsuzuki's image wavered in front of him. He watched as his partner's easy expression morphed into a look of concern but was unable to figure out what to do to reassure Tsuzuki.

There was a moment when Tsuzuki thought that Hisoka might give in and pass out. The youth was standing in the doorway absolutely petrified by the thoughts of the people in the cafe. On a reflex, he reached out and grabbed Hisoka's thin hand.

'_Just focus on me,' _he instructed the youth, knowing that Hisoka would read his thoughts.

Hisoka glanced up at his partner and, with a gargantuan effort was able to narrow his empathy, relieved when the feelings of the people around him dissolved into the calm pulse of Tsuzuki. He appreciated the pattern of his partner, something that had become so familiar now, how Tsuzuki's emotions changed was completely unique to him and it helped Hisoka to be able focus.

With Hisoka's hand tucked into his, he led them to a table away from the crowd in the doorway and sat, making sure Hisoka had the chair next to the wall.

"Are you okay?"

Hisoka nodded, a frustrated expression on his face now that he was away from the crowd.

"Sorry to trouble you..." he said, all formality in place.

Tsuzuki blinked at his partner and recognised that this formality was an erection of those same protective barriers he had hoped would gradually fall away. He knew that Hisoka hated to show weakness of any sort, especially when it came to matters concerning his empathy but something was off. It was unusual for Hisoka to be so easily overwhelmed. Once again, Tsuzuki found his eyes being drawn to the dark circles beneath his partner's eyes that seemed to have become more prominent since their meeting that morning.

"I'll get you some green tea," Tsuzuki told him, reluctant to voice his concerns, knowing how Hisoka would take it.

Hisoka glanced at his partner and tried to ignore the headache that was settling in behind his eyes. He could feel the tumult of concern and suspicion moving through Tsuzuki's system though faintly now as Tsuzuki had put up a shield in response to Hisoka's sensitivity.

He nodded.

"Thank you Tsuzuki," he said as his partner pushed off from the little cafe table and made his way across the crowded counter.

As soon as he was sure Tsuzuki wouldn't be able to see, he put his fingers up to his temples and gently massaged the throb that was starting to pulse through him. It made him feel slightly nauseous and he wondered vaguely if he'd had the foresight to pack some painkillers in his bag. The emotions of the people around him had been lulled into a distant rolling wave by Tsuzuki's focus and for that he was grateful but still, he had to curse himself for his weakness. Even in death he was unable to look after himself and if he couldn't even manage that, how was he supposed to watch out for Tsuzuki, provide the support the older shinigami clearly needed?

He reached down for his satchel, intent on rooting through its contents for some painkillers when something brushed across his arm. For a moment, a darkness so profound that it made Hisoka recoil seeped into his system and tainted his soul. His eyes shot upwards into the face of the offender and silver eyes met green.

"No..." Hisoka whispered.

Muraki smiled at the young boy through the crowd of people pressing in on all sides and Hisoka could do nothing but stare, at the sinister curl of his lips, at the lingering burns on his face, at the mechanical eye...

Instinctually, he remained motionless, his only thought to somehow signal to Tsuzuki. He didn't want to look away, even for a moment lest this man advance towards him again but if he had any hope of getting Tsuzuki's attention, he knew he had to. His eyes flicked away, settling on the visual of Tsuzuki walking back towards the table with a loaded trey, a disarming smile on his face, then back towards the place he'd seen Muraki but there was no one there.

Hisoka jerked up out of his seat, eyes racing over the cafe, searching the face and the emotions of every individual he came across but there was nothing, no sinister intent, no silver eyes.

"What's the matter Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, a serious tone to his voice. Hisoka reluctantly dragged his eyes back to his partner and opened his mouth to say something.

But something stopped him.

In his mind's eye, he could see the black flames of Touda's fire and the slackened form of Tsuzuki in Muraki's lab. When he called out, Tsuzuki turned but his eyes were dead, devoid of all hope.

Muraki had caused that...

Hisoka closed his mouth again and thought.

"Someone just brushed past my arm," Hisoka told Tsuzuki, sitting back down, telling himself to relax, "the emotions were just...a bit too strong."

Tsuzuki searched his young partners eyes, surprised at how disturbed Hisoka was. If he was having such issues, perhaps it was too soon to be doing cases, perhaps Hisoka hadn't recovered from the Kyoto incident as readily as he was making out. He sat down opposite Hisoka and pushed the green tea towards him.

"Maybe you should stay at the hotel when we get there," Tsuzuki said carefully, spooning sugar liberally into his coffee.

As predicted, Hisoka shook his head.

"I want to come with you," he insisted, taking a sip of his tea.

Tsuzuki shrugged nonchalantly and started to cut into a chocolate éclair. Hisoka's workaholic attitude was all well and good but Tsuzuki made a mental note, if Hisoka had any more trouble with his empathy on this trip, he'd talk to Watari and if Watari suggested it, he'd have Tatsumi pull the kid off of the case.

* * *

><p>The halls of the hospital were white wash. The smell of the place was a mixture of disinfectant and despair, it seeped into Hisoka's clothes and hair making him grimace. Last time he had been in a real hospital, he had been a patient under Dr Muraki, a test subject for a torturous art so elaborate that it had followed him beyond the grave.<p>

Somehow he knew as they passed through a set of double doors leading to the Akiyama ward that the curse marks left on his body by his killer were burning brightly now. He no longer needed to check them to know how Muraki was feeling.

The man they were searching for had a bed next to the window and was sitting up reading a book when the two shinigami approached. Tsuzuki had tried to prepare himself to be professional about the resemblance between himself and this man but it was almost like looking into a mirror.

"Uh..." he faltered, putting a hand behind his back apologetically as the man looked up.

'_This is impossible, I feel like I'm talking to myself.'_

"Excuse us Mr Takahata," Hisoka said, stepping up and bowing slightly, "my name is Kurosaki and this is my partner Tsuzuki. We came to ask you some questions about your attacker if you feel you can answer them."

The man stared at them both and Hisoka felt himself relax slightly as he saw the man's eyes were a dark blue.

"Oh, are you with the police?" Takahata asked, putting his book down on the little bedside table.

"Something like that, yes," Tsuzuki said, falling into the natural rhythm of his job. "We are from an investigation department that specialises in this sort of thing. We know the particulars of this case and we are still trying to catch the culprit. If you have any information to give us, it would aid us substantially."

Hisoka had to give credit where credit was due, Tsuzuki had managed to dance around the face that they were from Enmacho and had kept his professional air throughout. He found himself wondering about Tsuzuki's ability to lie so naturally when he was such an earnest person.

"Oh...uh..." Takahata shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed, his eyes cast downwards. Tsuzuki's air changed immediately.

"Please, take your time, I know this has been a traumatic experience for you," Tsuzuki said in a soft voice. Takahata's eyes slowly travelled up to meet Tsuzuki's and he gave the shinigami a hesitant smile. He took a deep breath.

"I'll...I'll try my best but please...please understand that it is...difficult..."

Tsuzuki nodded, making sure his expression was as friendly as possible. Hisoka had to envy his partners free bedside manner.

"Anything you can tell us at all will be a great help but please don't feel you have to push yourself."

Takahata took another deep breath and visibly relaxed. Hisoka recognised it as a mental preparation step before he revisited the incident.

"I was walking home from work..." Takahata began, "it was late but the moon was out and huge so I thought it would be quicker to cut my way through the park..."

Tsuzuki could almost picture it, a man alone in the dark walking over the ornamental bridge just wanting to get home. A shape in the dark with deadly intent following him by the wayside, unseen until it was too late.

"He cornered me by the skate park, he was furious, mad. He kept saying that I'd killed him and that he'd come for revenge..."

Before he could stop himself, Hisoka's eyes darted to Tsuzuki's face. His mind was racing.

"He came for me...s-stabbed me...in the side...and when I collapsed, he..."

Takahata's eyes were filling with tears now. Hisoka's own green eyes were drawn to the distraught man in the hospital bed as his empathy set to work. He could feel the panic, the desolation and the resigned feeling that he knew so well. No one was coming, no one would ever come.

Discreetly, he sank back until he was leaning against the wall, determined not to let the trauma of the man overwhelm him.

"He told me that he still desired me...that he wanted me more than anything...more now that I'd killed him. I...kept trying to explain...even though the wound was...agony."

Hisoka clutched his side, channelling the man's memory. He could almost feel the hole as though it were his own, the pain was unbearable.

'_Tsuzuki...'_

"I thought he'd killed me...but I woke up here. The doctor told me it was some sort of miracle that I didn't die. They want to write a news story about it," Takahata finished, glancing over at Tsuzuki.

"What did the attacker look like?" Tsuzuki asked, leaning forward on his chair.

Takahata's eyes clouded for a moment.

"Hard to say in the darkness of the park but I remember his eyes, they shone through the moonlight, one of them was silver and the other was a lighter colour. He had odd eyes...the lighter one might have been false...what's the matter?"

Tsuzuki had drawn back in his chair, his hand pressed to his mouth. His head whipped around to face Hisoka and his eyes widened when he saw his young partner hunched up against the wall, clutching his side.

They had to get out.

He turned back to Takahata, fighting the panic that was starting to churn in his stomach.

"Excuse me Takahata," Tsuzuki lowered his head, "the description you gave does actually sound familiar, therefore we might have a lead. Thank you for your information and thank you for taking the time to answer our questions."

Tsuzuki stood, purposefully keeping his movements slow and controlled. He stepped over to Hisoka and lightly took the boy's arm.

_'Easy Hisoka...'_

Hisoka opened his eyes and glanced up into the face of Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki didn't return the look and instead continued to address Takahata.

"If we have any information, we will contact you. In the meantime, rest well and rest assured that we will protect you."

He bowed low, pulling Hisoka down into a bow as well.

"Oh...uh...thank you," Takahata replied, bemused by the abrupt departure that seemed to be taking place.

As they left, the older of the two detectives had a smile on his face and for some reason Takahata found it reassuring. He sat back against his pillows, calmed by the detective's words that he would be protected. Although he had been asked to relive the incident, somehow, he didn't feel as distraught as he had. He picked up his book, feeling that a distraction from the whole ordeal was in order.

A few minutes later, a nurse walked in to check his wounds and as he lifted up the bandages, she noted with some concern that the angry red tattoos carved into the skin around the wound were still there, blazing brightly as ever.

* * *

><p><em>Reviews are good for my ever fleeting will. <em>


	2. Chapter 2

_Hola mon unsuspecting readers. To begin with, there were a few notes about this chapter that I wanted to put down before we continued ever onwards but like an elephant, I've gone and forgot them. _

_With that in mind, I will stick a warning on this chapter for some fluff, that's just the way it rolled._

_Oh yeah and apologies for some words that my word processor doesn't seem to recognise. I'm pretty sure they are legitimate English words like 'lungfuls', I'm absolutely positive that I've seen that word in books before but if they are actually just made up, keep in mind the attitude of the ancient Englishmen which was decidedly lax on such things as spellings and making up words. Look at any of the original Chaucer and you'll know what I mean or better yet, 'Good Omens' by Neil Geiman illustrates it perfectly with any text quoted from Agnes Nutter's prophecies._

_Hmm...spiele...a warning for that too._

_Disclaimer: I own a few bits of funiture, this computer (though sometimes it rebels against the shackles of its oppression) and some cereal. I certainly do not own YnM or Good Omens though it is a fantastic book. _

**The Kumamoto File - 2**

Hisoka squeezed his eyes tight shut.

"This can't be happening," he muttered to himself, trying to control the roll of dread washing through him.

Beside him, he could feel the slight brush of fabric as Tsuzuki moved forward.

He cracked open an eyelid.

The bed was still in the middle of the little hotel room. It was still a double bed. A very small double bed. The sheets were a dark crimson.

"W-what was Tatsumi thinking?" Hisoka stuttered, pointing an accusing finger at the offending bed. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was aware of just how childish he probably looked at the moment, his stance defensive, his composure flustered. It just added to the embarrassment of the whole situation.

From the other side of the room, Tsuzuki glanced back, a hopelessly clueless expression on his face.

"Hmm, what's the matter?"

It took all of Hisoka's willpower not to face palm.

"There's just one bed!" Hisoka exclaimed, renewing his accusing point and becoming irate when his sleeve flew off of the end of his finger.

Tsuzuki stared at the bed, processing this.

Hisoka's eyebrow twitched.

To his utmost dismay, Tsuzuki flashed him a grin.

"At least we'll be warm tonight?"

Heat flushed through Hisoka's cheeks making them burn. He whipped round, intent on hiding the blush that he knew Tsuzuki had already seen.

"Idiot," he mumbled, stalking into the bathroom with his overnight bag.

Tsuzuki winced as the door slammed shut and the lock clicked smoothly into place. He would pay for his feigned ignorance but ultimately, it was worth it. Slowly, he turned so he was looking back out of the little hotel window at the streets of Kumamoto. Neon signs flickered to life below him, taunting him with the promise of any kind of food he desired. His stomach growled uncomfortably.

'_Maybe Soka's hungry too...'_ Tsuzuki thought, without much hope.

Sighing wistfully, he sat back on the corner of the bed and pulled Takahata's file towards him. He felt a stone of unease form in his stomach as he flicked to the first page and stared into the unfortunate man's face.

Hisoka turned the taps over the little hotel bath and let the water run nice and hot. He would have a good long soak and damn Tsuzuki if he needed to relieve himself while Hisoka was in there.

He poured in some complimentary bubble bath and let the aroma encompass him, breathing deeply to encourage himself to relax. As he stripped down, he half expected to see the burning red marks pulsating over his translucent skin but to his surprise, for tonight, he was a blank canvas.

He slipped into the water and lay back feeling the frown between his eyebrows soften. The ache caused by fatigue seemed to be seeping out of him into the water and he sighed contentedly. His mind wandered to the case at hand and the man that looked so much like his partner. Immediately, he felt his side, running a delicate finger over the place where he had felt the wound emphatically imprinted by the poor man.

There was no denying it, Takahata had given a perfect description of Muraki, had given a flawless account of classic Muraki behaviour. Hisoka knew that he should have told Tsuzuki already, if the older shinigami hadn't already worked it out for himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to extinguish the light that had tentatively re-appeared in his partner's eyes since Kyoto.

It had been a slow progression. Every day since the incident, Hisoka had watched his partner intently, searching for any signs that his mentality was slipping. At first, Tsuzuki had smiled as normal, as though nothing had happened but the smile never reached his eyes, eyes that remained scarred by the flames of Touda's fire...

The weeks had passed and Tsuzuki's spirit had lifted. Hisoka wasn't sure if it was because of his empathy but he was clearly the best at handling Tsuzuki after the incident. The others, Tatsumi in particular, had made the mistake of walking on egg shells around Tsuzuki while Hisoka continued to beat him upside the head when he was late and refuse him treats when they went out for lunch.

Somehow, just acting like nothing had happened had helped and, eventually, the smile _had _reached Tsuzuki's eyes.

He didn't want to be the one to take that away again just by mentioning Muraki's name. He knew far too well the feelings of terror and shame that the doctor's name alone could inspire.

A brief knock on the door interrupted Hisoka mid-thought.

"What's the matter?" Hisoka called through the door.

There was a pause.

"Uh...Soka-chan...I need to use the bathroom..."

* * *

><p>This time, when the world was tainted incarnadine red, he knew it was somehow going to be worse. His eyes tracked down from the angry red sakura blossoms to the dark figure under the branches. The weapon glinted, the woman was stabbed and the blood stained the front of the doctor's coat.<p>

Except it wasn't a woman Muraki was holding.

As he turned, silver eyes glinting cold in the light of the red world, Hisoka could see the slackened form of Tsuzuki lying dead in Muraki's arms.

* * *

><p>He woke sweating and shaking in the dark, gasping in lungfuls of air like he'd been drowning in the dream. For a while, the sound of his breathing covered every other sound in the little hotel room but as he calmed he could hear the steady thump of a heart beat so close to his ear.<p>

"Shh...it's okay Hisoka..."

Suddenly, he was very aware of just how close he was to Tsuzuki. His partner had his arms wrapped warmly around his body, pulling him in close. Hisoka's head was tucked into the crook of Tsuzuki's neck and Tsuzuki was gently stroking his hair.

Hisoka stiffened and the movement was not lost on Tsuzuki who simply continued to stroke the boy's hair and whisper softly in the dark. He smiled when he felt the heat radiating off of his partner, half expecting him to push away and roll over muttering 'idiot' under his breath. To his intense surprise, after a while, he felt Hisoka start to relax in his arms and a tentative hand came up from under the blankets, pale in the light from the little hotel window to grip Tsuzuki's shirt like a lifeline.

A surge of pity welled up in Tsuzuki's heart as he saw the scorching marks of the curse flaring deep in Hisoka's skin and, almost imperceptibly, he pulled the boy closer.

"You're okay now..." he whispered gently.

They stayed like that for a long time, Hisoka daring not to move a muscle and Tsuzuki slowly slipping back into a dream, a serene smile replacing the protective expression on his face. His hand stayed on the back of Hisoka's hair and somehow, Hisoka found that he missed the soft rhythm of Tsuzuki's stroking.

He couldn't go back to sleep. This time he knew he would dream of Touda's fire and of the dead look in Tsuzuki's eyes.

Carefully, he wriggled away from his partner's embrace, taking care to be extra wary of the hand still on the back of his hair. Taking it in his own hand, he pulled it over his head and laid it to rest neatly on the pillow. Tsuzuki moaned once, briefly at the sudden lack of contact then rolled over and slipped straight back into blissful oblivion.

Hisoka stood watching his partner's steady breathing in the dark and thanked Enma that Tsuzuki wasn't inflicted with the same nightmares he was.

If he had been, Hisoka wasn't sure if Tsuzuki would have ever fully regained himself.

He started moving quietly over the little hotel apartment, pulling on a fresh pair of trousers and a black T-shirt. He glanced outside once but nothing was open at such a ridiculous hour. At least, nothing he would want to visit.

It was half past 2 in the morning.

After some indecision, he concluded that it was probably for the best if he teleported back to Meifu and got on with some paperwork, perhaps prepare their schedule for the next day. He scribbled a hasty note to Tsuzuki should his partner wake before he returned and set an alarm on his watch before disappearing like a ghost in the shadows.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi Seiichirou, secretary for the summons division of Enmacho pushed his way through the double doors of the bureau nursing a cup of coffee in his left hand. He had a stack of papers tucked neatly under his right arm and was anticipating a morning of productive work.<p>

It was a little after 8 in the morning and he was looking forward to filling out his overtime form which would ensure a hefty bonus to his salary at the end of the month. He passed Watari's lab where the light through the little window was, comfortingly, turned off and he passed by Chief Konoe's office which was in a similar state of disuse.

As he rounded the corner onto the main office floor, what he did not expect to see was the flickering light of the lamp at one of the desks and the hunched figure of Kurosaki intent on some files that were open beneath him.

What was the kid doing here? Wasn't he out on call with Tsuzuki?

Tatsumi hovered in the doorway watching as Hisoka worked. As he looked on, he noticed Hisoka slowly sinking into himself, his head slipping sideways. As soon as his head flopped down, he jerked up, shook his head, took a sip of coffee from what looked like a well used mug and tried to get back on with his work.

Tatsumi frowned. He knew that Hisoka was quite serious about his work and that the case that Chief Konoe had given the pair was quite puzzling but he didn't expect that it would be perplexing enough to merit an all nighter.

Just as he was about to approach, Hisoka's hunched up form fell sideways, completely lax, off of the office chair.

Tatsumi's heart lurched into his throat and, as an automatic response, his shadow writhed and sped forward to catch the boy before he hit the ground. Tatsumi dropped his papers which scattered a white snow fall over the office. His coffee landed with an undignified clunk on the office floor as he ran forward to check the unconscious form before him.

"Kurosaki?" he asked urgently, turning the boy over as his shadow dispersed.

Hisoka blinked up at him, completely disorientated.

"Tatsumi?"

"Oh, thank Enma," Tatsumi spluttered, leaning up against Terazuma's desk trying to stop his heart escaping through his chest. As Hisoka sat up, rubbing his eyes, Tatsumi could see the mess of papers and coffee behind them and winced inwardly. So much for a constructive morning.

He pushed his glasses, which flashed threateningly in the light from Hisoka's work lamp, up his nose.

"Kurosaki, would you mind telling me what's going on here? Why are you here in Meifu without Tsuzuki?"

Hisoka sat back against his own desk and surveyed the secretary. He felt way too tired for a confrontation at the moment. If he was going to do this, he really needed an espresso or something.

"I'm sorry Tatsumi for causing you trouble like that," Hisoka began, bowing his head appropriately. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I might come in and do something useful."

Tatsumi's eyes narrowed.

"You know shinigami are supposed to work in pairs Kurosaki," Tatsumi started but Hisoka shook his head interrupting him.

"I'm aiming to meet Tsuzuki for breakfast when he wakes up. I've already planned the schedule for the two of us today."

Hisoka swept a pale hand across to his desk where Tatsumi could see the edge of a map folded over.

Tatsumi's eyes softened as he regarded the exhausted youth. Now that the strict co-worker malarkey was out of the way, he let the worry flow up from the recesses of his mind.

"Ah," Hisoka flinched, sensing the change in Tatsumi's emotions. "I'm fine Tatsumi, I just haven't been sleeping too well."

Tatsumi's frown deepened.

"Perhaps you should stay home and rest today," he suggested, "I could accompany Tsuzuki in your place for today if you would be kind enough to impart the wisdom you picked up in your research last night."

Hisoka tried to stop the wave of fear that gripped him. His breathing hitched and his hands became clammy. He didn't want to think about going back to that empty, dark apartment, being alone when he woke up sweating and shaking not knowing if Tsuzuki was alright...

"It's fine Tatsumi," Hisoka told the older man quickly. "I can handle it."

Tatsumi shot the boy a disbelieving look and brought out the big guns.

"You will be a liability to the mission in your current condition," Tatsumi told him, feeling completely unremorseful as Hisoka's eyes hardened. He knew how the boy hated to be told he was weak.

"I'm fine," Hisoka reassured him smartly, "I am going back to help Tsuzuki-

A high pitched beeping sound cut through the room and interrupted him mid-sentence. His eyes stayed glued to the secretary as he flicked the little switch on the side of his watch to turn off the alarm.

"I am going to help Tsuzuki bring in Takahata's soul. I will not let myself become a liability. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back. Tsuzuki will be waking up any moment now."

Hisoka stood and with one last defiant glare, disappeared.

Tatsumi sighed, massaging delicate fingers over his now throbbing temples. What a headache.

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki stirred only when the first rays of sun hit his face. The warmth enveloped him and made him stretch out like a cat. Lazily, he opened his eyes and searched the space next to him for the form of his sleeping partner.<p>

When his eyes met the empty side of the bed, he sat up, hair sticking out at odd angles.

"Hisoka?" he asked, glancing over at the bathroom.

As if in response, the door to the bathroom clicked and Hisoka wandered out, holding on to his overnight bag.

"Good morning Tsuzuki, did you sleep well?" Hisoka asked, dropping his bag on the chair next to the bed.

Tsuzuki blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, I did actually," he said, tilting his head to one side. Though his partner was neatly pressed and ready for the day, Tsuzuki could see the deep circles under his eyes like a bruise, deeper than yesterdays. Hisoka clearly hadn't slept again.

"Shall we get some breakfast?" Hisoka asked, careful to avoid eye contact with Tsuzuki.

"Oh, pancakes!" Tsuzuki exclaimed excitedly, rolling out of bed and grabbing his trousers from the little bed side table.

"You go down, I'll be there in 5 minutes," Tsuzuki told him, disappearing into the bathroom.

Hisoka stared after his partner and huffed. He didn't think he'd seen Tsuzuki move that fast before.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi walked briskly down the hall. He had a lack of coffee in his left hand which was instead holding a ball point pen, point tapping agitatedly on his hip as he walked. His right hand was devoid of papers, instead he was holding a tiny stress ball that Wakaba had made one morning when she was at a loss of what to do with herself.<p>

He was not a happy secretary.

He rounded the corner and knocked once, sharply, on Watari's door. He waited.

"Yes? One moment," came Watari's cheerful reply followed by a colossal crash and some muffled but still recognisable swearing.

When Watari opened the door, his face was somewhat singed and some of the shorter hairs in his pony tail were standing on end but there was a huge grin on his face.

"Ah, Tatsumi, please come right on in," Watari said, skipping away from the door to let the solemn secretary pass. Tatsumi did a quick scan of the lab he had just entered and noted with some suspicion that it was just a bit too clean.

"I have a favour to ask Watari," Tatsumi began, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Watari raised an eyebrow, this was serious. Or if it wasn't serious yet, it was heading that way.

"You have my undivided attention," Watari confirmed as something started emitting a pungent smell from behind them both.

Tatsumi sighed.

"It's about Kurosaki."

"Bon?" Watari asked, fidgeting slightly in his seat as the smell got noticeably worse. With a hoot, 003 abandoned her favourite position on Watari's shoulder for somewhere higher up, away from the smell which was becoming downright ghastly.

"Yes...would you please fix whatever is making that terrible smell?" Tatsumi asked, without breaking stride.

Watari shot him a grateful look and disappeared, returning a moment later looking alarmingly pleased with himself. Tatsumi made a mental note to stay away from the coffee for the rest of the day.

"Sorry about that, please continue," Watari urged.

Tatsumi cleared his throat.

"This morning when I came into work, I noticed Kurosaki at his desk working. This was at 8 o'clock," Tatsumi told the scientist.

"Ah, is Bon turning into a bit of a workaholic?" Watari asked.

"It seems so but I think it has something to do with an inability to sleep at the moment," Tatsumi confided. "I'm afraid he might cause more problems than he solves on the case both he and Tsuzuki are on if he continues like this."

Watari's cheerful face darkened.

"Do you think this has anything to do with what happened in Kyoto?"

Tatsumi nodded.

Watari copied the gesture, reaching into his lab coat pocket and pulling out a small vial of clear liquid.

"Is it..."

"The same concoction I've given Tsuzuki to stop the nightmares, yes," Watari confirmed.

"That will probably work, unfortunately we have no way to pull Kurosaki back now. He teleported back to the hotel this morning," Tatsumi said, running a hand through his hair.

Watari shook his head.

"We'll have to catch him when he comes back, until then, it'll be up to Tsuzuki to watch out for him."

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki found Hisoka sat at a little two seater table in the hotel restaurant. His eyes were closed and his head was nodding forward. Every so often it would jolt up and his eyes would open just a little bit revealing dull green. Tsuzuki shook his head and sauntered over, dropping into the chair opposite Hisoka who jerked awake.<p>

"Huh?" He mumbled, resisting the urge to rub his eyes like a child.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tsuzuki asked straight out, trying to gage his partner.

Hisoka simply nodded, trying not to fall into the repetitive rhythm of the motion.

"I'm fine," he said.

Tsuzuki frowned.

"You're not fine, you're dead on your feet," he observed, bracing himself for the fight he was probably about to get himself into.

Sure enough, Hisoka shot him a withering look.

"Push me too far Tsuzuki and no pancakes for you," Hisoka said threateningly, withdrawing the open menu beneath him.

Tsuzuki's eyes went wide with shock.

"You...touché..." Tsuzuki mumbled, pouting as he snatched the menu back and started perusing through the dessert menu.

Hisoka leant on his hands and watched Tsuzuki's face light up as he started placing orders. He felt something not entirely unpleasant squirm through his stomach as he stared at his partner's sparkling purple eyes, at the smile that looked so natural on Tsuzuki's face. The whole world just seemed a bit brighter when Tsuzuki smiled.

"We have a lot to cover today," Hisoka said, bringing out the file he'd prepared and dropping it on the table.

"I've mapped out the area around Takahata's work station and the correlating routes to his home," Hisoka told his partner as a stack of pancakes appeared, impossibly tall, masking the way between them.

Tsuzuki nodded as he ate.

"There's only one park that Takahata could have possibly used as a short cut so I was thinking that we should take our investigation there for the day," Hisoka concluded, looking to Tsuzuki for input.

Tsuzuki swallowed a humungous portion of cake and grinned.

"You just want to go to the park for the day don't you," he teased, pointing his fork at Hisoka. "If you wanted to go out with me that badly, you could have just asked you know."

Hisoka merited this revelation with another death glare.

Tsuzuki frowned again. Normally something like that would have made his partner blush. He enjoyed seeing the flush of red on the too pale cheeks of the boy but today, something seemed to have changed. Was it because of the way Tsuzuki had hugged Hisoka in the middle of the night when the nightmare had begun? Perhaps he had over-stepped his bounds a bit.

"So I guess you were thinking about leaving Takahata alone for the time being," Tsuzuki said, deciding that the only way forward was to discuss serious matters.

"For now...yes..." Hisoka told him, looking away out of the little window.

Tsuzuki felt his hand on the table flinch. He didn't need to be an empath to see what Hisoka was feeling, the expression on his face gave it away completely. He pitied the man in the bed that looked so much like Tsuzuki but more than that, he was afraid, afraid of the way the man felt and what it would do to his own emotions.

What Tsuzuki didn't see was that it ran deeper than that. Hisoka wasn't just afraid of how the man would feel but of the look on his face, the same face as Tsuzuki's, when he had spoken of his brutal attack. He knew the look well, he had felt it obscure his own features every day when he had been in that dreadful hospital with that dreaded doctor.

* * *

><p>The park was bustling with people much to Hisoka's annoyance. Though the foliage in the park was quite dense in places, they were never far away from someone pointing out a bluebird or looking at the flowers that had started to bloom. They passed a mini doughnut stand and, after much begging, Tsuzuki was able to walk away with a steaming hot bag of mini doughnuts, one in every flavour.<p>

"Want one Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, waving a cinnamon doughnut under his nose. Hisoka's nose wrinkled, he never had been much of a sweet lover.

"No, thank you Tsuzuki," the boy said, waving his partner off.

"But it's so delicious," Tsuzuki sang, munching two at once.

The skate park that Takahata had mentioned was tucked away at the back of the park by some trees. Although it was a school holiday, there were no kids around which was strange in itself and the place was starting to grow over with weeds. Both Tsuzuki and Hisoka started hunting for clues almost instantly though they knew it was a long shot considering the age of the case.

"Did the police find anything?" Tsuzuki asked, climbing up on top of the half pipe to get a better look at the layout of the land.

Hisoka shook his head.

"That's why we're here, I'm hoping that Takahata's attacker might have left something of himself behind...a spiritual trace perhaps," Hisoka suggested, closing his eyes and breathing in deep, letting his spiritual powers stretch out.

Tsuzuki sat on the edge of the half pipe and watched his partner. To passers by, it might look like Hisoka was trying to soak up some sun and the thought made him guffaw. He couldn't imagine that Hisoka tanned very well with his porcelain skin.

Hisoka felt gently at the energy around him. There were the faded sensations of the people that had come to the scene after Takahata had been stabbed, the residue of serious emotions and concentration. His brow furrowed as he felt the sharp tug of the attack, the residual panic woven into the grass.

He could feel Muraki's familiar dark aura.

He opened his eyes and started walking speedily through the trees behind the half pipe, Tsuzuki quick on his heels. He weaved through the undergrowth, breaking into a run as he felt the concentration of darkness growing.

The trail lead him deep into the trees through a wildlife preserve and up. He didn't know how long he ran for but it felt like an age. He could hear Tsuzuki panting after him. All of a sudden, just as the sinister feeling of Muraki's spiritual residue piqued, it fell away and Hisoka jerked to a halt.

Tsuzuki nearly ran straight into the back of him, skidding to a stop and falling on his butt.

"Hey," Tsuzuki muttered, rubbing his bruised butt cheeks.

Hisoka was concentrating and Tsuzuki cocked his head in confusion as Hisoka took three calculated steps back and stood straight as a pin over a section of earth that looked like it had been recently upturned.

"Here," Hisoka whispered.

Tsuzuki pulled a face.

"If I'd known we'd have to go gardening, I would have brought my trowel," he grumbled, pulling out a piece of parchment from a pocket in his trench coat.

"Stand back Hisoka," Tsuzuki instructed, lining the parchment over the soft earth, mumbling something and stepping well back himself.

There was a popping sound and a small explosion went off on the ground, cratering the earth and spreading mud everywhere. Both shinigami peered into the hole the explosion had left.

Hisoka drew back.

Something glinted metallic silver in the light of the sun.

Tsuzuki crouched down and dug around it with his bare fingers. Hisoka reached out to him with his empathy, his teeth clenching as he felt Tsuzuki's spirit quiver.

It was a knife that Tsuzuki had dug out of the ground, a knife splattered with Takahata's blood dried onto the blade.

The knife that Tsuzuki had used to stab Muraki the night of that terrible fire.

* * *

><p>"Tsuzuki?"<p>

The name fell from Hisoka's mouth like a lead weight and silence followed it. Tentatively, he leaned around his partner's frame intent on looking into Tsuzuki's eyes but Tsuzuki stepped forward, holding the knife out in front of him like it might explode.

Carefully, almost reverently, he placed it on the little table at the end of the hotel bed and sat on the edge staring at it.

Hisoka tried to reel in his empathy which was reaching out to the older shinigami. He could already feel the edges of some complicated emotions circling Tsuzuki's system. Confusion, dread, guilt...

And he could feel the resigned affirmation. Tsuzuki had considered the possibility that Takahata's attacker had in fact been Muraki.

Hisoka fell against the closed door, an agonised expression crossing his features. Maybe he should have spoken to Tsuzuki after all.

Tsuzuki was looking at his hands, frowning. Emotions seeped from him and although Hisoka blanched, feeling them prick at his mind, he couldn't bear to ask Tsuzuki to strengthen his mental shields. Instead, he steeled himself and stalked forward, perching on the end of the bed with his partner.

"Tsuzuki," he repeated.

Tsuzuki didn't look at him and this scared Hisoka. As he watched the changing face of the older shinigami, an ill-humoured smile flickered across his face.

"At least we'll have the element of surprise..." Tsuzuki mumbled. His voice shook and Hisoka was overcome by an overwhelming guilt.

He turned away to stare at the floor, hardly seeing it.

"Uh...that's not exactly...true," Hisoka began, his hands balling into fists on the bed sheet.

Tsuzuki did look at Hisoka now and his eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Do you remember when we were in the cafe yesterday and you came back from buying the treats?" Hisoka asked rhetorically. "I must have looked like I'd seen a ghost..."

Tsuzuki's pupils grew small as he remembered and horror washed through him.

"Muraki was there...in the crowd. I felt him for a moment," Hisoka admitted, daring to glance back at the shocked face of his partner.

Tsuzuki's eyes were wide, unseeing, his lips were parted slightly. He brought a shaking hand up to his mouth.

"So you knew who it was when Takahata described him at the hospital..." Tsuzuki whispered through his fingers.

New emotions were rushing over Hisoka, terror, sorrow...betrayal...

Hisoka bit his lower lip to stop it wobbling as he nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tsuzuki asked. His voice was dark and Hisoka flinched away from it. This behaviour was so unlike Tsuzuki that it was throwing him off. He fought to concentrate.

"Look...I've been having these nightmares for a while and I haven't been sleeping," Hisoka explained, trying to be concise, knowing it was his only chance to make his partner understand. "I wasn't sure if what I'd seen was real or if it was just some...delusion and I didn't want to mention Muraki after...after Kyoto."

Hisoka chanced a side long look at his partner and stood as though stung when he saw the expression there. Tsuzuki's brow was furrowed and his eyes were sharp. Hisoka was strongly reminded of the time Tsuzuki had found him hunched against the wall, heading to the restricted records section of the library to find out about his own death. He remembered the feel of Tsuzuki's anger as it sparked through his own system.

"So why didn't you talk to me after Takahata confirmed your suspicions?" Tsuzuki asked, his voice was cold. He was interrogating Hisoka.

Hisoka shook his head and met Tsuzuki with the same calculated coldness.

"That description could have just been coincidence. The first concrete evidence we've had of Muraki's involvement is that knife," he pointed to it. "So I am telling you this now."

He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at Tsuzuki and sighed when his older partner continued to glare. In his time, Hisoka had merited many ice cold stares like this, from those he gave attitude to when he'd first appeared in Meifu, from those in that house that had told him he was a monster, his mother, his father...but Tsuzuki's was the only glare that made him want to break down. Tsuzuki's was the only glare that could shatter his resolve, make him try to be the peace keeper.

"Look Tsuzuki, I was only trying to look out for my partner. I know what kind of turmoil Muraki's name alone can inspire..."

Tsuzuki's expression softened and Hisoka could see the beginnings of tears collecting in the corner of his eyes. The purple in them shimmered and Hisoka pulled back further, confused when the need to take on the role of peace keeper turned into a need for something else entirely.

"Hisoka..." Tsuzuki sighed agitatedly and closed his eyes, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead.

"Listen, I know you were only trying to look out for me but this is our job. We are first and foremost investigators and all information, even just hunches, should be shared when it comes to situations like this."

Hisoka stared at his partner.

Tsuzuki was giving him a lecture?

Tsuzuki that no good slacker was giving _him _a _lecture._

He stood in the middle of the room blustering fruitlessly. Tsuzuki would have found the temper tantrum funny if it wasn't for the situation. He watched the colour flush through Hisoka's cheeks and saw his eyes flash dangerously. A thrill went through him, so this is what Muraki meant when he said that anger was beautiful...

"Tsuzuki you...I..."

Hisoka stopped and pulled himself up to his full height, taking a deep breath. His eyebrow continued to twitch showing that the anger was just bubbling under the surface so Tsuzuki remained quiet, letting the sadness have free reign over his thoughts.

Hisoka had failed to confide in him, even after asking Tsuzuki to live just for him. Did he not trust Tsuzuki to honour the promise he'd made in the midst of the roaring flame? Did he not think that Tsuzuki could handle it?

He stood up from the edge of the bed, feeling the hot tease of fresh anger inflaming his own expression.

"Hisoka, if you can't trust me to deal with the information available and act professionally then I'm not sure this partnership is going to work," Tsuzuki told him, moving towards the hotel room door.

The anger in Hisoka's face morphed into something much worse as Tsuzuki moved past him and his resolve faltered. All he wanted to do was spin round and tell the youth that everything would be alright but he knew that this trust issue was a serious problem. It had to be addressed or what was the shinigami rule about working in pairs actually for?

He tried to tell Hisoka that he was only going to get dinner, that he would be back in a few hours but the words just didn't come out. He left Hisoka standing in the middle of the hotel room as the last light of day faded away.

Tsuzuki fled down the hall.

* * *

><p><em>Reviews are the currency that keeps Tatsumi happy!<em>


	3. Chapter 3

_Greetings my dear readers, apologies for the late update, I had terrible writer's block with this chapter and have been spending my time trying to get it up to scratch. After several months I'm finally happy with it._

_A few things to note before we continue ever onwards. First off, a warning here for violent imagery and macabre in case any of you are particularly squeamish and a note about a few words throughout this chapter such as 'steepled' and 'spasmed' which my Word tells me are not real words. Again, I like to adopt a liberal view on this sort of thing, how else will the English language grow and expand if we stop introducing new words? _

_Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing, just the time to write this monstrosity. _

* * *

><p><strong>The Kumamoto File -3<strong>

He had intended to have something to eat and calm down but somehow, he found himself back at Meifu walking briskly though the corridors as everyone else packed up to go home. When they saw him, the others looked surprised and Terazuma, with a smirk on his lips, made to say something smarmy to his rival about bring late with his work but the look on Tsuzuki's face silenced him.

Tsuzuki for his part ignored them all, walking briskly to Tatsumi's office and rapping his knuckles on the door, praying that Tatsumi hadn't picked today to pack up and leave early. He was in luck though, the door opened and Tatsumi peered out, blinking as he regarded the person before him. The person whose eyes were glistening with tears threatening to spill over.

Without a word, Tatsumi stood back and let his former partner enter his office.

* * *

><p>Hisoka had tried to go to sleep, he really had. He'd tried piling the pillows up beneath him and counting sheep, getting frustrated when his neck spasmed and he was forced to move the pillows out from under him. Instead, he tried lining them up and covering them with the duvet to replace the form of Tsuzuki that should have been sleeping soundly beside him but they lacked the comforting warmth normally radiating from his partner.<p>

After that he'd laid awake, painfully aware that the knife was glinting in the light through the little hotel window.

Tsuzuki had returned just after midnight and Hisoka had stayed unnaturally still, daring not to breathe as he listened to the sound of his partner moving around. By the sound of it, Tsuzuki was drunk. He crashed into the desk and shushed himself before disappearing into the bathroom. That idiot, it wasn't fair. Why should he have an escape from all this awkwardness if Hisoka couldn't?

Tsuzuki had eventually fallen into bed beside him and rolled over, as far away from his young partner as possible. The action had made Hisoka's heart ache and he'd waited only until Tsuzuki's breathing had evened out into the rhythm of sleep before getting up and dressing in the darkness.

He wasn't sure where he intended to go. All that waited for him in Meifu was Tatsumi who was sure to take him off of the case if he saw that Hisoka hadn't slept again and he needed to stay here, he needed to make sure Tsuzuki was safe…even if Tsuzuki didn't want to be his partner anymore.

The words that Tsuzuki had said still churned through his gut making him wince in the dark. Surely Tsuzuki hadn't meant that…surely he wasn't about to be abandoned by the one person that had always stood by him…

But then Tsuzuki hadn't always wanted to stay by Hisoka's side. In the heart of Touda's inferno, he had wanted to take himself away regardless of whether or not Hisoka would follow him. Hisoka had forced him to stay against his will, had clung to him.

He shuddered to himself, trying to ignore the increasing feeling of unease at the prospect of being abandoned again.

He closed the door of the hotel room quietly behind him and was relieved to find the lights along the corridor on. He wasn't sure if he could face the darkness at the moment.

He decided that this time, he would set up camp in the hotel lobby and do his work, at least then he wouldn't be disturbed and it was sure to be deserted considering the late hour. He picked out a small table in the corner of the room and settled in, taking the folders out of the little satchel he had brought with him and spreading them across the flat surface in front of him.

Tsuzuki's face looked up with wrong eyes from the picture provided.

Hisoka bit back the emotions that surged through him.

If he hadn't been so pre-occupied with his own intense emotions, he might have detected the approach of the figure that had been waiting and watching in the shadows. As it was, through a mixture of fatigue and distress he didn't notice until the gun nozzle was cutting into his neck.

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki woke uncomfortably as the morning light trickled over his eyelids. He was aware of a dull throb in the forefront of his mind and had the good grace not to move too much should the pain spike. Hazy memories filtered through his mind as he lay, visions of Hisoka's hurt face followed by the comforting gesture of his former partner Tatsumi as he brought Tsuzuki another drink.<p>

He reached out blindly behind him, feeling for his partner's small form on the other side of the bed but, as usual, there was nothing. He opened his eyes and chanced a look at the bathroom but the door was wide open. Hisoka wasn't there.

He took his time getting up, mournful when he didn't have the usual deposit of water and aspirin waiting for him on his bedside table. Hisoka really was mad at him.

He trudged to the bathroom, wincing as the hangover pounded behind his eyes, smiling only once he'd managed to find some painkillers and down them. Eventually, the pain subsided and Tsuzuki ambled down to breakfast feeling much more human.

Of course, with the absence of physical pain, came the potency of the emotional anguish he felt knowing that things were going to be awkward with his young partner after the things that were said yesterday. With a jolt of dread, Tsuzuki realised that this situation could very well provoke Hisoka to close himself off even more.

It was still such a rare occurrence for the youth to show anyone what he was thinking or feeling. A fresh wave of guilt washed over Tsuzuki's heart as he thought about how Hisoka had, however tentatively, tried to be honest and open with Tsuzuki only to be shot down. It may have been true that Hisoka should have shared important information and Tsuzuki may have been right in the essentials of what he had said, but, he could have handled it a lot better.

Hisoka needed gentle encouragement when it came to his issues, not the cold and callous professional response that he'd received yesterday because Tsuzuki had been wounded by the youth's lack of trust.

His eyes darted over the lobby, searching for any sign of the slim figure but he drew a blank. His eyebrows furrowed slightly and the hangover, still holding on to the edges of his mind, threatened to kick start again.

'_Odd, it's not like Hisoka to leave without dropping me a note…'_ Tsuzuki thought to himself.

He meandered through to the hotel restaurant, doubtful that Hisoka would be there, frustrated when his suspicions of the youth's absence were confirmed.

Striding across to the main desk, he addressed the young receptionist sitting there, typing diligently at her computer.

"Excuse me, but did you happen to see a blonde boy about this tall," he gestured, "with green eyes leave here early this morning?"

The woman glanced up at him and blushed when she saw the man she was talking to. His amethyst eyes were sparking.

"Uh…yes, I think I did," she told him, grateful that she had been paying attention that morning when she'd arrived to take her shift.

"He left with another man, an older man."

Tsuzuki's frown deepened and though his headache pressured him, he hardly noticed it.

"What did the man he left with look like?"

The woman thought for a moment.

"He was very handsome, " she said, feeling the heat in her cheeks deepen as she remembered. "He had platinum hair…and was wearing a white trench coat. He had grey eyes, I remember, though one of them was covered by the fringe of his hair…"

Tsuzuki had gone stock still at the desk, vague smile fixed firmly in place. The receptionist in front of him kept talking, unaware that he was falling to pieces inside.

Muraki had been in their hotel and had taken Hisoka.

"Are…are you alright?"

The voice in front of him seemed far away. His first instinct was to teleport back to Meifu but somewhere, a sliver of rationality continued to function through the panic induced immobilisation.

"Uh, yes, sorry. Thank you," he heard his voice say, unnaturally calm.

He gave a brief bow, felt his legs carry him through to the corridor towards the lifts and stop. For a few seconds, he remained motionless again as he tried to deal with the onslaught of thoughts bombarding his mind.

Muraki had Hisoka.

What did he want with him?

Muraki had Hisoka because Tsuzuki had failed to protect him.

How long had Muraki known where they were staying?

The last thing Tsuzuki had said to his partner before he had been taken was that he wasn't sure if their partnership would work anymore…

He took a shaking breath and sat down on the steps leading up into the hotel. His hand found its way to his forehead where it balled in his hair.

* * *

><p><em>Drip…drip…drip<em>

He was aware of something.

_Drip…drip…drip_

A rhythmic sound, a comforting sound. It matched the pace of his heart beat.

_Drip…_thud…_drip…_thud…_drip_

His eyelids fluttered and he caught a few flashes of bright white light.

Was he dead? Had he truly passed on this time?

As his eyes adjusted to the harshness of the light, he could just make out an industrially tiled ceiling, white wash so it looked grey in the illuminating white glare. He turned his head slowly, mentally assessing himself for damage as he took in his surroundings. The room was mostly featureless though there was a metallic table which Hisoka could see through the edge of the light. He was upright, suspended from his arms and the light, obscuring most of his vision was a flood lamp turned on him like a spot light.

He could feel something cutting into his wrists and chanced a glance up, eyes widening as he saw the sharpened metallic shackles cutting into the delicate skin on his wrists, sending a stream of blood down his arms to pool in the sleeves of his shirt.

_Drip drip…drip drip…_

"You really are a beautiful doll. Every time I lay eyes on you I congratulate myself on being your murderer."

Hisoka's chest tightened. Panic bordering on hysteria was starting to build up inside him, a sheen of sweat broke over his forehead. No matter how many times he met this man, the reaction was always the same.

The rhythmic clack of shoes on concrete followed this statement as Muraki moved into the light, a dark silhouette of a figure though Hisoka could see the triumphant smile as the light crept around his face.

"I regret that I cannot afford to be so elaborate in tormenting you this time but you must understand that the nature of revenge calls for a much more abrupt conclusion."

Hisoka struggled against the bonds and winced when pain shot through his wrists. It was futile.

"Revenge?" he managed through grit teeth. In his experience it was best to keep Muraki talking, keep him talking until Tsuzuki came…if he was coming at all this time…

"Oh come now," Muraki purred, moving gently towards the boy caught in the spot light like a fly in a spider's web. He placed a gentle hand on the boy's cheek and ran a loving finger up the length of his chin.

Hisoka shuddered and hissed when the pain flashed through his arms once again.

Muraki chuckled.

"You didn't think that this was about you did you?"

Hisoka's eyes widened.

"Tsuzuki…"

Muraki pulled back, moving away from the light into the shadows and Hisoka was forced to shut his eyes against the sudden, unfiltered glare. His mind whirled.

Muraki wanted revenge on Tsuzuki…so he had taken Hisoka. He must have heard the exchange between the two of them in the flames of Touda's hell. A black ball of horror was forming in the pit of Hisoka's stomach. If Muraki wanted revenge on Tsuzuki, he wouldn't hurt Hisoka too much until Tsuzuki was there to see it.

"No…don't…" Hisoka whimpered.

'_Don't do that to him…'_

"My Tsuzuki must be punished," Muraki's voice whispered through the darkness. "Punished for what he did to Saki and I…"

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki's first coherent plan was to teleport back to Meifu and search for the phone that he had taken from Maria Wong's step mother all those months ago. Muraki knew that the bureau still possessed that phone and was sure to try and contact Tsuzuki to arrange something.<p>

But he just couldn't manage to move between the worlds. His thoughts were too rooted amongst the living, his anger and panic was too strong.

His second plan was to contact the bureau and let them know of the recent disastrous situation so they could send back up, preferably in the form of Tatsumi or Watari, and comb the streets of Kumamoto himself until they arrived. He knew that the sensible and rational thing to do was to wait in the hotel. Muraki knew that he was staying there after all and was sure to contact him eventually but he just couldn't handle the thought of waiting helplessly while Hisoka was tortured. He couldn't stand the idea that the power was entirely Muraki's at this stage.

When he arrived back at the hotel, completely defeated, it was just after 11pm. He had been all over the city asking everyone possible if they had seen Muraki or Hisoka but had drawn a complete blank. He'd followed trails through Muraki's medical profession but the general consensus was that Muraki's work was on hiatus and he was on an extensive recovery period following a fire in his lab at Kyoto.

He trudged through the lobby, dripping rain along the corridor of carpet, intent on reaching the elevator so he could take the lift up to his room. He hoped the bureau had gotten his message and Tatsumi would be there waiting. He would be able to offer some sort of solution, Tsuzuki was sure.

He stepped into the lift and sighed as the sensation of pressure on his stomach eased the ache in his heart a little. As the lift doors opened at the other end, he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his room key, concentrating as he slid the key into the lock and turned the handle so the door swung open.

What he found inside nearly sent him over the edge.

"Didn't I tell you that one day I would come to see you with a million red roses?"

Muraki was standing in the middle of a veritable rose garden. All around the little hotel room were bunches of flowers, snow white flowers splattered with a dark, incarnadine taint brutally illuminated by the light of a freshly risen moon.

"Of course, it is so hard to find pure red roses at this time of year," Muraki told Tsuzuki as he dropped to his knees in the doorway.

"So I rather improvised and does it not make for a beautifully arousing image? Pure white roses stained dark by the blood of a lover…"

Tsuzuki's eyes were racing around the room taking in the grotesque shapes that the dark liquid had made on each of the rose petals. There was so much blood…

Muraki shook his head, wiping a glistening tear from the side of his eye as he watched the man before him.

"So lovely, your beauty never did fail to move me Tsuzuki."

At the sound of his name, Tsuzuki managed to tear his eyes away from the macabre to look at the grand architect. Light glanced off of the puckered skin on his face, burn scars still very much visible even though months had passed since the incident in Kyoto. Tsuzuki's eyes flickered down to Muraki's stomach where the knife had driven deep.

Muraki followed Tsuzuki's gaze and for a moment, his easy smile morphed into an expression of vengeful hatred.

It was lost on Tsuzuki. His eyes slid hopelessly from Muraki's midriff to comb the room of blood-covered roses once more, his face betraying all emotions. Muraki saw the impression of guilt, desolation and grief swim through the man's eyes and the smile fell back into position.

"What do you think, my beloved Tsuzuki? Surely a gesture such as this deserves at least one date…we don't have to leave this room," Muraki's silver eyes moved from Tsuzuki's face to the crimson sheets of the double bed then back again.

"I could simply finish what I started on the Queen Camellia when I won that poker game."

Tsuzuki's eyes were suddenly wide, shocked, his lips were slightly parted, his breathing hitched. Muraki could feel the dark sensation of lust tugging at his insides, warring with the need to destroy the beautiful man before him. The strength of the conflict was almost pleasurable.

Tsuzuki's bright eyes were on him, his cheeks were flushed. His lips parted further and he leant forward.

"Where is Hisoka?"

Muraki's expression slid into cold disapproval. He moved towards the window and fingered the dried blood on one of the roses. As he moved, he caught a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. The knife he had buried in that backwater park after stabbing the wrong Tsuzuki.

"All in good time my Tsuzuki, you always were completely selfish. It seems perfectly adequate that you would fail to appreciate my little gesture, that you would be so impatient to end our time together just so you can ease your guilt…"

The hand tracing lightly across the rose petals flinched and the petal was ripped clean from the plant. Tsuzuki winced and felt his adrenaline spike as the doctor strode towards him, catching the tip of his chin in pale hands. He ran his thumb lightly over the point of Tsuzuki's chin and sighed when Tsuzuki started shuddering.

"I could make you promise many things for the return of that boy," Muraki whispered, moving so close that his lips were inches away from Tsuzuki's ear. His breath was warm and moist.

When Muraki didn't speak again, Tsuzuki's panic overflowed and he shoved the doctor off, sending him staggering backwards into three of four bunches of the violently red roses. Tsuzuki was left with his back pressed up against the wall, his heart pounding, his breathing ragged.

As Muraki stood, Tsuzuki could see manic anger bubbling under the surface. Muraki's smile was too wide, the pupils of his eyes were far too small and Tsuzuki recoiled. Unable to determine whether or not Muraki was about to snap, Tsuzuki called Suzaku to attention.

'_Please don't do anything rash Suzaku…'_

There was an indignant pause.

"_Tsuzuki, if I can see that you're in danger-_

'_No, please, you can't. I need to find Hisoka first…I need to know that he's still alive…I just want you to stand by.'_

Tsuzuki's eyes flicked from the irate doctor before him to the blood covered roses and then back again. Even though he had only looked away for a moment, as his eyes fell back on the man in white before him, he could see a dramatic change in expression.

Muraki was wearing a mask of impressive indifference, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a silver lighter, flicking the top up and lighting the cigarette in one smooth motion.

Without another word, he started walking towards the door, gesturing for Tsuzuki to follow. Tsuzuki hesitated for a moment, afraid to follow this man and find out if Hisoka was still alive after all, afraid to look at the roses, afraid to smell the metallic pang of blood in the air.

'_Keep it together Tsuzuki…' _Suzaku told him softly.

He took a few determined footsteps forward and let his mind go blank as he followed Muraki towards the elevator. The two men made their way down and out into the street alight with rain reflecting neon lights in the dark. Muraki called a cab and held the door open for Tsuzuki, ignoring the amethyst glare as he climbed into the car.

The address Muraki gave nearly made Tsuzuki double take.

"Where was that? Kumamoto General Hospital?" the taxi driver asked, signalling to pull out into the traffic.

"That's right," Muraki confirmed, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why there?" Tsuzuki asked.

Muraki glanced over at Tsuzuki and drew out the silence, pleased when a frown formed between his eyebrows and those beautiful eyes flashed darkly.

"There is a construction site there," Muraki told him. "It allows me the space to expand my work. I also have an office there that allows me to keep my eye on…former patients."

'_Takahata,' _Tsuzuki thought to himself. So Muraki was responsible for Takahata's increased life span, a trap for himself and Hisoka? It wasn't the first time that Muraki had caused an incident to coax a response from the ministry and in Tsuzuki's province no less.

Tsuzuki spent the rest of the journey in silence, carefully suppressing the trauma of the rose covered room. As his skin got clammy and his breathing started to devolve into hyperventilation, he took deep breaths and concentrated on watching the world move outside of the car.

Muraki, for his part, spent the journey admiring Tsuzuki. The way he sat so elegantly, the way the light in his eyes would dance as he tried not to succumb to the crippling panic threatening to overwhelm him. This man had completely altered Muraki's life when he had been so hell bent on his revenge against his brother.

This man had been the one to destroy the remains of his brother and had been so close to destroying him as well. He traced a finger over the scar that Tsuzuki had given him.

The moon had risen high as the taxi pulled into the hospital car park and Muraki's silver hair gleamed as he paid the taxi driver. He lead Tsuzuki up around the back of the complex.

Tsuzuki glanced up at Takahata's window as they passed beneath it.

"It's a curse that binds that man to this world, not unlike the one I placed on that boy so long ago," Muraki was saying. Tsuzuki hadn't realised that he'd stopped until Muraki spoke, his confident voice carrying across the wind.

Tsuzuki tried to quell the rising wave of anger though he couldn't stop the growl in his voice as he replied.

"How long are you going to keep him alive?"

Muraki glanced up at the window and breathed in deep. He seemed completely content.

"I must admit I wasn't intending to create a new doll," Muraki told Tsuzuki, "but the resemblance was uncanny and I wanted to know what it would feel like to return the favour."

Muraki's hand automatically reached up to rest on the wound. Tsuzuki's eyes lingered on his pale hand. The blood red ring he always wore glinted menacingly.

"Inevitably though, I won't keep him alive much longer."

Tsuzuki's mouth fell open, a question on his lips but Muraki turned and made a point of striding onwards.

"Shall we?"

Tsuzuki closed his mouth again and glanced up once more at Takahata's darkened window before continuing to follow the white doctor to their destination.

It was, as Muraki had told him, a construction site. The building looked new and steady but it was a shell. There were no windows in the lower floors and no lights. Abandoned diggers lay around the building like dinosaur husks, necks extended to the sky to silhouette the moon. There were ditches of mud and rubbish to be cleared and warning signs tattooed alarmingly on the wire fencing surrounding the place.

Tsuzuki stared up the building and tried not to let himself snap.

Hisoka was here somewhere?

He was so close but…how long would Muraki drag this out?

Muraki started stepping through the construction site and Tsuzuki had to mimic his footsteps almost exactly to avoid falling into a hole or tripping on something sharp. As they entered the building, Muraki flicked a mains switch and the building was suddenly illuminated in naked light.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi sprinted down the hallway, his jacket flying out behind him as he ran. An urgent message was clamped tightly in his right fist.<p>

He veered around the corner and almost crashed straight into Watari who was attempting to manoeuvre the corner with some awkward looking boxes tucked under his arms.

"Ah!" Watari yelled, throwing his back against the wall to save himself toppling over. Tatsumi slowed to a halt and doubled over, breathing deeply.

"What's the matter?" Watari asked urgently. He knew full well that Tatsumi never ran anywhere, this must be serious.

"Urgent…message…from the…chief," Tatsumi huffed, holding out the note for Watari to read.

Watari frowned at the exhausted secretary but took the note and started to skim the first few lines. As he read, his face became ashen and the boxes dropped to the floor around him. The note crumpled once again in a tense fist as Watari grabbed Tastumi's hand, intent on dragging him the rest of the way to Chief Konoe's office.

Tatsumi spluttered as they marched, making a mental note to get out for more exercise when they returned from the world of the living. He chuckled darkly to himself when he realised he was dwelling on such trivial things. How could he think about exercise when something like this had happened?

How much would Tsuzuki berate himself for this?

Watari rapped once on the chief's door and didn't bother to wait for an answer. The Gushoshin were already there and waiting, both looking panicked. Chief Konoe was sitting in his chair with his hands steepled in front of him. He looked about 20 years older.

"We're going to send full back up but I'm going to need you, Tatsumi, to head the charge," he told the secretary, launching right in. "You'll provide a discreet approach, I get the impression that this situation is going to need someone clever."

Tatsumi nodded trying to keep the fear in his heart in check.

"Watari, accompany him and provide whatever medical back up you can."

Watari copied Tatsumi's gesture, dreading the thought of having to tend team mates that were more like family so soon after the incident in Kyoto.

Chief Konoe unthreaded his fingers and ran his hands through his hair, his forehead crumpling as he gave into the stress.

"How could we not have foreseen this?" he muttered to himself. "People like Muraki never let it go."

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki.<p>

Through the darkness and the shadows slanting across his vision, he thought about Tsuzuki. As the shackles sliced into his wrists and his life blood continued to slither down his arms, warm and unsettlingly wet, he thought about the way Tsuzuki would turn up to work blissfully unaware that he was 45 minutes late.

He was starting to get a headache, the kind of headache only initiated by a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain. His chest hurt, his limbs were on fire but Tsuzuki was holding out his hand to Hisoka, offering to take him for an ice cold drink on a hot, humid day.

He was starting to struggle with his empathy as his grip on reality slipped, unable to distinguish between his own thoughts and feelings and the corruption of his murderer. He could feel the cold flame of hatred igniting within him but couldn't confirm if it had been born of himself or if it was simply a replica of the hatred that had burnt brightly in Muraki's heart for years.

Instead he thought about the way Tsuzuki's emotions felt, remembered the warmth that radiated from his partner as he spoke to people in the mornings. He relished in Tsuzuki's euphoria as he realised there was one more cake left in the break room and smiled as he recalled an afternoon watching Tsuzuki sleeping on his paperwork, his emotions coming in soft rhythmic waves.

Tsuzuki…

Would Tsuzuki come for Hisoka, given what had passed between them? He honestly had no idea what to expect from the guy. In the past, everyone had acted the same, had abandoned him or tortured him as soon as he had done something undesirable but Tsuzuki was something else. Though Hisoka had messed up in the past, Tsuzuki had continued to be there for him…

How then could he say that their partnership wouldn't work. That idiot would be lost without Hisoka keeping tabs on his paperwork and monitoring his expenditure…

But it didn't matter if he came now. Hisoka could feel his consciousness slipping, surely it was only a matter of minutes before he passed out from blood loss. He tried to prepare himself as best he could, clearing his mind as he usually did for sword practice, letting images of Tsuzuki fill him until he was almost free.

"HISOKA!"

Hisoka jolted, his eyes flew open then snapped shut against the flood lamp that had been turned on in front of him. Through the spots drawing zigzag lines on his eyelids, Hisoka could hear the shuffling of feet, the shuddering breath of someone as they laid eyes on something horrific.

"Tsuzuki…" he whispered.

He could hear Tsuzuki crying as he drifted in and out of awareness and experienced a dull ache in the core of his being.

'_Don't cry.'_

* * *

><p><em>Reviews provide Tsuzuki with cake and cookies.<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_There are so many things that I should be remembering to say about this chapter but I believe I may be suffering from selective amnesia so I can't tell you the important bits. What I can tell you is that I've been working on this chapter for a long time, writing, re-writing, re-writing again, giving up and banging my head against the desk, re-writing…_

_If I had writer's block with chapter 3, this was writer's Everest…_

_Still, what's done is done as they say. A warning here for violence and unanswered questions. Please note that this chapter is not the end of the story, only the end of this particular arc so if there are unanswered questions, I will probably address them in the next couple of chapters. _

_Disclaimer: Owning things is overrated anyway (pout)_

* * *

><p><strong>The Kumamoto File - 4<strong>

There were a few moments where Tsuzuki was only aware of his own ragged breathing and the blood roaring in his ears. He clutched at his chest, trying to hold in the nausea seeping through his system, his thoughts devolving into unintelligible chaos.

Pictures kept shifting into his eyes, the blood soaked roses outlined by the harsh light of the moon, his partner hanging from the rafters of the half finished medical surgery, his arms covered in dark trails of blood oozing into his shirt sleeves, Muraki's leering face as he stepped forward.

"HISOKA!"

The name forced its way up from his diaphragm and cracked the silence in the construction site like a gun shot. He watched as Hisoka jerked up in response to his name, wide eyes catching his own for a split second they snapped shut against the flood lamp illuminating his body. He watched as the pain etched its way across Hisoka's ashen face as he fell limp again, his chest rising a falling with laboured breathing.

On impulse, Tsuzuki's body lurched forward, his only coherent thought to tear at the shackles keeping his partner prisoner but something held him steadfast against the floor. Horror struck, Tsuzuki glanced down at his feet to stare at his restraints, tiny glowing white threads stitching his feet to the floor.

"Do you like it?" Muraki asked, watching Tsuzuki's expression change with barely concealed passion.

"I call it spell thread. I wouldn't bother trying to remove your shoes," he added as Tsuzuki started pulling at the laces. "The thread is actually connected to a chi gateway in the base of your foot. Do you really think I would be so ignorant? I'm disappointed."

He turned slowly, making a show of walking across the room towards the medical trey ordained with the tools of his profession. He was making sure Tsuzuki realised he was powerless, that he had been rendered useless. Tsuzuki's eyes swam with tears as he glanced over at the prone form of his partner, as he followed the thick trails of blood down the boy's arms, as he took in the discolouration on Hisoka's lips.

"_Tsuzuki?" _

He could feel Suzaku pushing at his mind, begging him to tell her what was wrong but he couldn't form enough coherence. He knew somewhere deep down that if she felt it was the right course of action, she would emerge unbidden as she had when the girl, Maki, had tried to kill him in Meifu. He knew that, considering they were in such close quarters, the results would be disastrous but he just couldn't bring himself to pull it together, to find some semblance of rationality.

Muraki watched the desolation play out over Tsuzuki's beautiful face and relished in the sparks fluttering through his stomach. There was something momentous about the way it felt to torture his brother's murderer, something fitting about the way this felt like the end. He glanced over at the boy and made some mental calculations about the way his spiritual powers were coping with the constant blood loss. His hands hovered over the surgical tools on display but dropped to pick up an out of place ornamental knife, a present from Oriya.

"I think it's important for you to realise that this is all for you," Muraki told the shinigami before him, running a finger over the length of the blade.

The tears swimming in Tsuzuki's eyes shimmered and fell over his cheeks, dripping from his chin onto the smooth floor below. Muraki let the feeling of satisfaction swell within him as he watched Tsuzuki's eyes deaden, as his expression became haunted, numb. Slowly but surely, Tsuzuki's soul was shattering and as his soul fell away, Muraki could feel his own become bright and vibrant.

The smile on his lips fell naturally into a chuckle as he wove the curse into the knife, creating intricate characters that shadowed the blade, turning it dark with black power. When it was done, he turned and held the knife up to the light so the characters on the blade could cast shadows.

"The curse that I have placed on this blade will insure that I am able to take away your reason for living, just as you took away mine," Muraki whispered darkly.

He turned towards the boy, watching Tsuzuki's eyes which remained fixed on Hisoka's inert form. Slowly, he reached out to the youth, touched the sodden shirt and sighed when Tsuzuki flinched, his hand travelling up to run through his hair. Muraki shifted the shirt up so part of the boy's stomach was exposed and paused at the nostalgic marks glowing violently through his skin.

He dragged the knife up and paused only when the sharp tip pressed against the boy's pale skin.

The knife seemed to cut through Hisoka's semi-state of consciousness. Until now he had been drifting in and out of awareness, here embracing distress as he realised Tsuzuki was there with him, suffering at Muraki's hand and there slipping into a blissful numbness, awake but unable to really care about his situation. Now, Muraki's darkness was seeping into him through the channel of the knife, keeping him from slipping under lest he drown in black intent. Still it was difficult to keep himself apart from the overwhelming feelings, difficult not to be overpowered by emotions that weren't his…

"No! Please, don't!"

Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki was here and that was all that mattered. Tsuzuki would be ripping himself apart from the inside, blaming himself for the actions of a maniac and no matter what, Hisoka had to set him straight. His eyes flickered open and the image of the knife against his exposed stomach blurred. He tried to lift his head, tried to level with Tsuzuki's eyes but he had no strength left for that, instead, he concentrated on forming something coherent, something to make Tsuzuki understand.

"Tsuzuki…"

The hand holding the knife flinched and Hisoka was bombarded by a fresh wave of furious anger. It took all his willpower not fall back into oblivion. He could feel the raw grief from Tsuzuki and tried not to lose himself in his crippling need to cling to the familiarity of Tsuzuki's emotions, choosing instead to focus and tell Tsuzuki what he needed to tell him.

"…not your fault…" he whispered.

Muraki's head whipped back so silver eyes met amethyst. Hisoka whimpered as Muraki's anger spiked and fell under the tsunami. The curse marks on his body seemed to raise and burn more brightly, as if they could burn right through Hisoka's flesh.

The hand holding the knife was starting to shake as he stared at the man before him. Everything seemed to have halted with the boy's words, the downward spiral he had seen manifesting in those amethyst eyes seemed to have died out like an anti-climactic storm. How could this happen? How could those words have such an effect when Muraki knew Tsuzuki's fragile psychological state inside and out? Nothing had ever worked before so why now when he was about to complete his revenge? Why this boy?

"No, it is your fault," Muraki snapped. Tsuzuki drew back as he watched the manicness burst out of Muraki. His pupils were small his eyes were wide, devolving into mad holes before him, a window to the soul. His lips were pulled back over bared teeth and his stance shifted. The composed psychotic doctor that Tsuzuki was familiar with was morphing before his eyes into something animalistic, something nightmarish.

"If it wasn't for you, Saki would still be alive and I wouldn't need to make this pathetic boy suffer, I WOULDN'T NEED TO DESTROY YOU!"

Tsuzuki sensed the pique in tension and knew what it meant.

"NO DON'T!"

The hand holding the knife plunged into Hisoka's side and Hisoka jerked up, brought to sudden brutal consciousness just so he could scream. The sound cut straight through the core of Tsuzuki and ripped him in half. Blood ran free and fast down Hisoka's hip, soaking into his trousers. The curse on the knife bit into his waist and crawled its way up to twine with the other, black on red.

Tsuzuki lost what restraint was left. Suzaku burst forth without the need of the spell to beckon her and the place was aflame. Tsuzuki lost sight of Muraki as he was overcome by the fire of the great phoenix but he couldn't lose sight of Hisoka. As Muraki was absolved in flame, the restraints connecting Tsuzuki's feet to the smooth floor evaporated and he crumpled, falling onto his knees.

He watched as Hisoka coughed up more blood, as he fell limp in torrents of smoke and embers. His heart was in his throat as he crawled forward and the tears slipped silently down his face to mingle with the soot and the smog.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi stepped into the little hotel room and staggered, breath hitching in his throat.<p>

"Hey, what's wrong Tatsu-

Watari's hand shot to his mouth as he materialised beside the secretary, the question dying on his lips as he took in the full sight of the room of roses. The patterns splayed on the white petals looked like shadows in the half light of the moon and the glaring neon signs filtering through from the streets below. The blood had already congealed and the flowers had begun to wither as though the strain of carrying human blood was just too much.

Deliberately, Tatsumi stepped over to the little hotel window and opened it wide. Watari tried to breathe, grateful that some fresh air was circulating through this intoxicating mess.

It was a while before the two men could move, Watari's eyes shifting to the silhouette of Tatsumi by the window. The secretary was resolutely staring out into the streets below, afraid somehow that if he turned around, he would catch sight of Tsuzuki in the corner of the room, broken, unseeing, a copy of the man that had attempted suicide in Kyoto.

"We have to find them," Watari offered gently, forcing his way over to the secretary to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Tatsumi didn't say anything, his eyes shielded by the glare of his glasses as they reflected a neon green sign below.

A long pause.

Eventually, Tatsumi pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose and he turned, walking briskly to the entrance of the hotel room, purposefully avoiding a closer look at the sanguine blooms around him.

"Send a message to Kannuki and Terazuma to meet us in the lobby, they cannot teleport here, it would upset Kannuki," Tatsumi told Watari as he opened the door and the room was flooded with artificial light from the hall.

"Understood," Watari confirmed, following Tatsumi out into the hallway. "What are we going to do about that?"

He glanced back at the dark room, a sinister doorway set into Magnolia walls, he would be having nightmares about that door for months.

Tatsumi glanced behind him and followed Watari's gaze to the door. He tried to ignore the increase in his heart rate. If only this wasn't a hotel with many rooms and guests lining the hallway, if only this was some remote place that they could burn and bury so Tsuzuki would never have to revisit this particular chapter of his life again.

"We'll have to send a message back to the Chief, we have no time to deal with it directly," Tatsumi told the scientist as the elevator button clicked beneath his slender fingers.

Watari cocked his head to one side but nodded and set to work sending a message to the bureau as Tatsumi disappeared into the elevator.

He was alone.

The lift started to descend and he fell back against the far wall, his hand against his brow which had creased under the stress. For a moment, he let himself succumb to complete unprofessionalism, his hands and shoulders shaking as he gave himself over to silent throes of sorrow.

Kurosaki's blood on the roses meant guilt in Tsuzuki's eyes. It was too soon, too soon since the incident in Kyoto, how was he to bear witness to any more of Tsuzuki's suffering, a pain that bit deeper than anything else Tatsumi could possibly suffer.

How could it be that for all his quitting to be Tsuzuki's partner, he still had to deal with the emotional backlash of watching Tsuzuki hurt? Oh, that was right…he hadn't been able to quit Tsuzuki completely, hadn't been able to cut himself free. Over the years that had passed, he'd had job offers from many different departments in Meifu boasting higher salaries, less traumatic work…but he had turned them down for his attachment to the purple eyed guardian that would sometimes enter his office at lunch time begging to be treated fairly in regards to sweets or his own docked pay.

Yes, he still had to deal with Tsuzuki's pain but only because he was unable to do anything else.

The lift juddered to a halt and Tatsumi stepped out of it, formal mask back in place. He made a bee line for the little café and ordered a black coffee, taking his order to a little table in the corner where he could stare into its depths undisturbed. He hardly noticed when Watari joined him.

"Wakaba and Terazuma are waiting," the scientist told him softly, touching his arm.

Watari watched as the secretary seemed to come back from somewhere far away to give him an intense look. Watari winced, grimacing back and a whole conversation of communication seemed to pass between the two of them. Tatsumi was the first to stand, leaving his coffee untouched on the shining surface of the table. Watari could do nothing but follow as they made their way around to the main lobby to find Wakaba and Terazuma waiting for them, Wakaba with her eyes closed, already searching for the spiritual traces that would allow her to find Tsuzuki.

"So?" Terazuma asked as Tatsumi stepped forward.

Tatsumi quirked an eyebrow, regarding his fellow co-worker. Terazuma's dark hair was wet, plastered to his head and his hands shook as he brought out a lighter to ignite the cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. The butt of the cigarette had been chewed almost beyond recognition, Tatsumi wondered faintly if he would have to give up on that one and pull out another.

"What's going on?" Terazuma continued, crimson eyes alight with anxiety as the cigarette caught.

"Tsuzuki sent us a message earlier today that Muraki had kidnapped Hisoka," Tatsumi began, glancing at Wakaba to make sure he wasn't breaking her concentration.

"Unfortunately we've been unable to send back-up until now because Chief Konoe and the Gushoshin were the only ones in the office. They've spent most of the day calling in the shinigami from their various provinces and cases."

Terazuma nodded mutely, his own call to arms had come whilst he was in the shower. He was so startled by the message that the stress had almost caused him to transform. It had taken all of Wakaba's repressive fuda abilities to keep him under control.

Both men turned their attention suddenly to the shrine maiden sitting in the chair before them as her brow furrowed. Her eyes fell open.

"I've found them," she stated simply. "They're at the Kumamoto General Hospital…Tsuzuki's already called Suzaku."

Tatsumi's blue eyes met Terazuma's crimson.

"Wait here with Kannuki," Tatsumi ordered, placing his hand on Watari's shoulder. "I need you to keep the Chief updated on the situation as Watari and I try to extract Tsuzuki and Kurosaki from the situation. In the event that our spiritual signatures waver, you are to step in albeit with the utmost caution."

As Tatsumi made to move himself and Watari between locations, he felt a soft hand on his sleeve and a gentle tug. He glanced down into Wakaba's anxious eyes.

"Tatsumi…Hisoka's spiritual signature…it's fluctuating…I really don't know if there's anything we can do if…"

Tatsumi tried to ignore the pounding of his heart, the tightening of his lungs, the spots breaking over his vision in a wave. He kept his professional face in place as Wakaba let go but couldn't bring himself to say anything as he and Watari disappeared.

* * *

><p>The smog, the ash, the burning building…why did it always have to end in fire?<p>

He kept his eyes fixed on the blurring form of Hisoka as he struggled forward, masking his face from the acrid smell of burning medical equipment. Suzaku circled high above him, the burning bird lashing out at the building and forcing its foundations to crumble around him. She kept the debris from crushing him as he progressed, obliterating it all until he was close enough to teleport to his partner's side.

The close up view of Muraki's destruction almost had Tsuzuki vomiting onto the scorched floor. In all his years at the Bureau and with everything he had seen, he never had gotten used to seeing his loved ones tortured.

He could feel the stirring of memory as he forced himself to look at the gaping gash in Hisoka's side, at the emptiness in that unconscious face. This wasn't unlike what had happened to his sister…

He reached up, hand trembling, to brush a sticky strand of hair from Hisoka's face and tried to concentrate on the shackles still binding his partner's wrists, still linking him to the crumbling foundations.

Muraki had picked his prison well. The chain connecting the shackles to the rafters was bolted into one of the support beams, the sturdiest parts of the building. He couldn't hope to wait until the rafters burnt and he couldn't hope to pull the bolt to release the chain. He would have to remove the shackles from Hisoka's wrists completely.

They were heavy set and sharp. Hopelessness squirmed within Tsuzuki's stomach as he started to realise that without a key, he would only be harming Hisoka further by trying to free him, by opening new wounds on his already battered wrists.

He gave up on the shackles, focussing his attention on the wound instead, the slice that seemed to have driven straight into the very centre of the youth. The blood still bubbling up was dark and deadly. Tsuzuki wasted no time ripping part of his shirt and using it to try and staunch the blood flow. It was difficult to keep the necessary pressure on the wound when Hisoka was still hanging high above the ground.

There was nothing else for Tsuzuki to do except wait for the world to be completely levelled in flame.

Gently, he pressed his forehead against his partner's and tried to contain the sorrow welling up inside him. Images came unbidden to the forefront of his mind, locked in reels of Touda's flame in Muraki's previous lab. He fought the memory of the desolation.

"_Can't you move? I'm coming!"_

Hisoka's voice merely served as a distraction and though he knew the boy was in a dangerous situation, crouching before him in the flames of hell, he just couldn't bring himself to save him. Perhaps, in some small selfish way, he wanted to take Hisoka with him…and maybe that small selfish piece of himself was all he needed to try and define himself.

A monster, he was a monster that had attached itself to something tainted because he stupidly thought that he could help to purify the marks left behind and validate his own existence in the process.

A monster…

Why had he told Hisoka that their partnership might not work? Why had he failed to protect the boy from his own unfinished business? Why was it always his fault?

"Tsuzuki?"

He started and eyes hot with tears flashed upwards, meeting the dull green of Hisoka's as he fought to remain conscious. It was a colossal effort to remain awake. Although Hisoka's eyes were on him, they kept rolling back as he slipped beneath dark waves of unawareness.

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki gasped, unable to contain a few of the racking sobs that made his whole body convulse.

Hisoka was only able to grasp two things during his flashes of consciousness, that his side seemed to be on fire but the fire was cold and painful and that Tsuzuki was crying. He tried to ignore the pain though it was all but unbearable and concentrate on Tsuzuki. He had been so close to death before that he recognised the coldness intermingling with the pain as a sign of the end and he needed Tsuzuki to be free of the guilt that he knew would haunt his hard headed partner.

A million things Tsuzuki wanted to say, a million ways to say them but all he could think to get out through the thickness in his throat as the tears fell freely was:

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

The flickering smile that answered this shocked Tsuzuki. For a moment, Hisoka's eyes were bright through the blood and through the flame as he caught Tsuzuki's gaze.

"Shut up, idiot."

The smile fell away from Hisoka's face, the shadows around his eyes became as dark as ink. Tsuzuki watched, terrified as Hisoka sunk back into oblivion, his breathing laboured and loud.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi and Watari materialised in a dark alleyway separating a couple of the hospital buildings. The bright orange glow and torrents of black smog alerted them to the direction they needed to take and they wasted no time sprinting forward. Along the way they were joined by the necessary people, policemen, fire men and doctors launching themselves from the nearby buildings to help anybody that might be hurt. Tatsumi tried not to listen as comments and commands were shouted back and forth across the competent crowd.<p>

Were there any men working on the site?

Where did the fire start from?

Head back towards the main gate and contain any civilians!

The shell of the building loomed before them obscured by orange flame. Through the light, Tatsumi could only make out the general shape, noting where the windows were reflecting in the blaze. He tried not to let the stress of the situation overwhelm him.

"Watari," he muttered after a while. Beside him, the scientist stood with him mouth hanging open in horror. They hadn't seen fire like this since Touda and the flames were so bright. Since when was Suzaku this out of control?

"I need to get close enough to send in my shadow," Tatsumi was saying, edging forward, trying not to catch the attention of the policemen. In his work suit, he looked just like a civilian or even worse, a journalist intent on getting an inside scoop for the local paper. Watari, in his pristine lab coat, could have passed for a doctor.

"We'll perform the same manoeuvre we used in Kyoto," he told the scientist.

Watari didn't need any further instruction. He took Tatsumi's arm and tried to arrange his features into a professional expression. He marched forward, taking Tatsumi's arm. As they moved on, a couple of policemen and doctors glanced up but they simply assumed the Watari was doing his job with a survivor or a witness that had gotten too close.

Once they were close enough to feel the edge of the choking heat, Tatsumi released his shadow and welcomed the extension of his senses, searching for a trace of Tsuzuki or Hisoka. It was painstaking work and every time Tatsumi started to panic that he wouldn't find them, his shadow faltered.

"Keep it together," Watari whispered encouragingly and somehow, Watari's presence beside him made it easier to stay sane.

Eventually, he found them, clinging to life in the centre of the inferno in a ground floor half constructed surgical theatre. He almost recoiled as he touched Tsuzuki's quivering spirit and almost sent in another shadow when he could barely detect Hisoka. Wasting no time, he encompassed them and dragged them down into the dark, letting Watari lead him back to the shadowed alley so he could release the two from the other world.

They emerged smoking, almost burnt to cinders. Tsuzuki was coughing and whimpering but Tatsumi couldn't stop the flood of relief. His suicidal former partner was alive, singed but alive.

But then he saw the way that Tsuzuki was cradling Hisoka, how Hisoka remained limp on the ground before them, how they were both covered in dark, burning blood.

"Bon!" Watari shouted from somewhere far away, falling to his knees beside the secretary in slow motion to start urgent medical work on the wreck that was once the stoic youth the Bureau had become so fond off.

"Tsuzuki, I need you to let him go," Watari was barking at Tsuzuki.

Tatsumi's heart was pounding in his ears as he watched Tsuzuki violently shake his head and clutch Hisoka tighter to his body.

"I CAN'T HELP HIM IF YOU'RE COVERING HIM LIKE THAT!" Watari yelled urgently. There was no room to be gentle here, no room for soothing words.

Tatsumi snapped into clinical action. In a minute, he was crouched beside Tsuzuki, gently prying his fingers from the boy's frame.

Tsuzuki started to protest in unintelligible croaks but Tatsumi knew exactly how to handle him, how to not say anything as he looked him in the eye. Eventually, Tsuzuki stopped resisting, going limp in Tatsumi's arms as Tatsumi pulled him away.

Tsuzuki kept his eyes on his partner's ashen face until spots overtook his vision and he himself fell beneath dark waves.

* * *

><p>The first things he noticed were the blinds, drawn but still letting through the cracks of neon that filtered in from the streets of Kumamoto below. He waited as his eyes adjusted to the dark, feeling through the sheets for the form of his partner beside him but instead of finding Hisoka's steady warmth, his hand brushed something velvet soft and ruffled.<p>

He frowned and glanced over, gasping as he caught sight of the white rose stained dark by the blood that Muraki had spilt. His eyes were glued to the sadistic flower so he only noticed the figure above him when a dark drip fell onto the petals, spreading over the bloom.

As though pulled by an invisible, horrifying force, Tsuzuki's eyes snaked upwards until he was looking into the empty glass eyes of his partner.

Tsuzuki shot out of bed and tried to reach up to disentangle the youth from his restraints but Hisoka was jerked out of reach by Muraki, larger than life and sneering as Tsuzuki tried to climb the walls of the hotel room.

"It is your fault!" Muraki bellowed, manipulating Hisoka's body using the boy's restraints like puppet strings.

"AH!"

Tsuzuki jolted awake and flew up, breathing heavily. His eyes darted about the little room, wide and unseeing until his heart rate calmed and he was able to absorb what he was seeing. A frown immediately replaced the shocked expression on his face.

Where was he? Where was Muraki? Where was Hisoka?

He was sitting in a familiar white wash room with familiar white wash walls. To his right was a low set window which had been left open just a crack. A light breeze was wafting around the room, diluting the scent of disinfectant so poignant in the infirmary. Outside, he could make out the weathered shapes of the sakura trees as they continued to release their blooms.

So he was back in Meifu. Somehow this didn't make him feel any better. His mind was awhirl with questions and he had a pounding headache settling in behind his eyes.

Just what had happened?

He had to find out what had happened to Hisoka.

He started struggling with the crisp sheets draped over his legs but only managed to get himself further entangled. For some reason, his hands didn't seem to be working properly, they were stiff and clumsy. In frustration, he gave up and glanced over at the figure occupying the next bed.

His heart jumped into his throat and a tsunami of nausea threatened to drag him back into the world of nightmares. He fought the sensation, gripping the sheets in white-knuckled fists. His eyes remained glued to the slight form in the next bed.

Hisoka's skin was almost as white as the sheets he was laying beneath but there was a distinct yellowish tint that was offset against the white and marked him out. The purple bruises beneath his eyes were black and heavy, almost ingrained into the skin. The mop of hair that Tsuzuki could see was dull and limp but he was alive and he was looking at him with hazy green eyes.

Tsuzuki's heart swelled with not entirely friendly emotions. Too fast, this was all happening too fast. There was so much of the story missing, too much…was he dreaming? Or had he moved on with Hisoka in the convergence of Suzaku's flames.

"Hey Tsuzuki," Hisoka said and to Tsuzuki's immediate disbelief, the boy smiled a natural smile, one that spread across his face without the requirement of premeditation.

Now he knew he must be dreaming. Somehow, that smile and the way it lit up Hisoka's face etched itself deep into Tsuzuki's heart and stirred something akin to yearning.

"Hey Hisoka, how are you feeling?" Tsuzuki asked softly, ignoring the headache tugging at the edges of his temples as he managed to climb out of bed and kneel by Hisoka's bedside so their faces were close. As he came closer, his eyes automatically ran down Hisoka's bandaged arms, lingering on the syringe nestled deep in the folds of white fabric near Hisoka's ruined wrists.

Ah, that explained the smile.

The smile was replaced by a struggling frown as Hisoka tried to muster the mental capacity to do a damage relay.

"Mmm…not that great," he admitted, moving sluggishly so he was facing Tsuzuki. "Watari said I lost a lot of blood and I'll be anaemic for a while."

It was easy for him to recite the scientist's words, easier than collecting his thoughts long enough to find what he needed to say to Tsuzuki though he vaguely remembered that it was all very important.

There was a thought wriggling just out of reach, like a koi carp flashing orange and white in the murky depths of a pond.

"I think you're an idiot," Hisoka muttered thoughtfully. "But I can't remember why."

Tsuzuki blinked at his young partner and let a small smile grace his features. Hisoka was still Hisoka…even in the midst of a drug induced haze.

* * *

><p>Tatsumi Seiichirou, secretary for the summons division of Enmacho, placed the ball point pen neatly on top of the paperwork for the recent Kumamoto file and sighed the sigh of the much put upon, drumming his fingers on his cluttered desk.<p>

"Struggling?" A wizened voice asked from across the room as the Chief glanced up, his sharp eyes rimmed with the uncharacteristic grey of sleep deprivation.

"A little yes," Tatsumi admitted. "Although we were able to bring in Takahata's soul without further delay, I'm missing some crucial information."

He picked up the file and held it up, re-reading his work.

"This could be one of Tsuzuki's submissions," he huffed, angrily, throwing the folder down again.

The Chief chuckled and leant back in his chair, watching the other man.

"Well, as Tsuzuki was on that particular case, there won't be much in the way of a quality drop."

Tatsumi regarded the man out of stressed blue eyes.

"You say that but Tsuzuki normally has Kurosaki go over his paperwork before he hands it in."

"There must have been quite an improvement when that young man joined," the Chief said light heartedly but Tatsumi's face seemed to darken.

It was true that the quality of the paperwork in the Bureau had dramatically improved since the arrival of the acerbic young man, at least where the Kyushu province was concerned. He moved over to the file and pulled out Watari's medical report, skimming through the words he already knew by heart.

"How are they?" The Chief asked, sensing Tatsumi's fluctuating mood.

Tatsumi paused, lingering on the paragraphs outlining their conditions. Tsuzuki only needed a sentence or two, diagnosis, recommendation, prescription, done; but he had gone into much more depth where the boy was concerned.

Hisoka had suffered an intangible amount of blood loss and as a result, his regenerative abilities had been taxed beyond measure. Watari was unable to dig up anything on the new parasitic curse mark intertwining with the marks already staining Hisoka's skin but the immediate effect seemed to be a slowing of regenerative abilities. The side effects included a need for two blood transfusions and tendency to anaemia which would remain until his blood levels registered as normal.

Inevitably, Muraki hadn't succeeded in murdering Hisoka again, but he had been close.

"Tsuzuki should be back in a few days but it'll be a while before Kurosaki returns to work," Tatsumi told the Chief and closed the file with a flick of his thumb.

* * *

><p><em>Reviews are the substance of Hisoka's library. <em>


	5. Chapter 5

_I should be working on updating a few more pressing projects so as sod's law would have it, I only have inspiration to write for this fic. Considering the frankly disturbing update time for this chapter, I feel like there may be some horrible error that I've missed so if you come across it, I'm really very sorry._

_A few things to note as always: first off a warning for fluff this chapter. Pleasantly, this just seemed to write itself, I hadn't even finalised the plan for it all yet._

_Saga, the location of the case for our favourite shinigami, is part of the Kyushu province and has a large agricultural back drop. Apologies for the pun in the title, it amused me. _

_Finally, for all those terrible at Japanese like myself, 'akuma' means demon or devil. I would have used the other word for demon 'oni' but that conjured up images of the old style Japanese demons and the implications of the word 'akuma' I find are much more subtle._

_So, now that I've bored you to tears…_

_Disclaimer: I own my own rotting brain but apparently have no control over my fanfics whatsoever…writers, your godhood is an illusion. As for the wonderful YnM? It's obvious really isn't it?_

* * *

><p><strong>The Akuma Saga - 1<strong>

Tsuzuki sat in the hard backed chair that stood next to Hisoka's infirmary bed keeping watch over the machine that was slowly pumping life blood back into his partner. Hisoka slept like the dead, his face turned towards Tsuzuki, his breath causing a strand of wayward hair to flutter lightly as he breathed.

Tsuzuki struggled with himself.

In the days that had followed the incident in Kumamoto, things seemed to have gone back to normal between the pair of shinigami. Hisoka may have been a little more irritable than usual but this was mostly because he was fatigued and his patience wore thin. Neither of them had spoken about the case or about what Tsuzuki had said in the heat of the moment in the hotel room about their partnership not working anymore.

It seemed like the whole ordeal had been swept under the carpet but Tsuzuki knew better than that. He knew that they would have to face up to that awkwardness when Hisoka was fully recovered and he still hadn't had a chance to undo the wrong he'd committed.

He didn't want another partner.

Hisoka's eyebrows knotted in his sleep and his breathing hitched. Tsuzuki lost track of his thoughts as he watched the nightmare tug at his partner, filling his sleep with restless and haunting visions. Without thinking much about it, he reached out and placed a tender hand on the blonde head. He could feel the tension bunched up in Hisoka's system, his muscles were taut and hard against the soft sheets and though he could feel Hisoka relax at his touch, Tsuzuki could still sense the urgency radiating from the boy.

"Always nightmares…" he muttered, leaning closer so he could watch Hisoka's eyes moving rapidly beneath his eyelids.

He wondered briefly what Hisoka saw in his dreams, if it was still the same old nightmare about the sakura tree with the dark figure of Muraki waiting beneath incarnadine blossoms or if that had been replaced by the tortures of their recent encounter.

How would he ever make it up to Hisoka? Was there really any way to apologise? Hisoka may have told Tsuzuki that it wasn't his fault but Tsuzuki knew better than to be taken in by comforting words. Muraki had made it perfectly clear what his intentions had been. If Tsuzuki wasn't around, maybe the psychotic doctor would have lost interest in his young partner and let him continue forward in peace…maybe he was right to say that their partnership might not work albeit for completely different reasons than his original intentions.

"Tsuzuki…"

Tsuzuki was roused from his thoughts by an annoyed looking Hisoka. His green eyes were flashing darkly and Tsuzuki tried to lock down the now familiar squirm of yearning.

"Hisoka? Are you okay? Do you need something?"

Hisoka just glared at him and Tsuzuki found himself longing for the drugs that had produced that natural smile. Since then, Hisoka hadn't managed to smile again, it was one bright moment that completely contrasted with everything that had happened to them.

"Yes, I need you to stop moping," Hisoka scolded, making Tsuzuki wince. "Your uneasiness is cutting into my sleep."

Tsuzuki's eye twitched.

On top of everything else that he had caused Hisoka to go through, he'd forgotten about the boy's empathy and had been letting his feelings pour out unguarded.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Tsuzuki proclaimed, erecting the shields he had been practicing to put in place.

Hisoka wasn't quite sure how to respond. Tsuzuki's tiptoeing on egg shells around him was beginning to drive him crazy but he didn't want to get frustrated and say something to Tsuzuki that he might regret. Despite the blood loss and anaemia that Hisoka was currently suffering, he wasn't entirely sure that Tsuzuki hadn't gotten the worse end of the deal. Although he seemed fairly normal as his expression morphed into easy happiness, the smile never reached his eyes.

It was exactly like Kyoto, all over again.

Suddenly, Hisoka was frustrated anyway.

"Tsuzuki, I don't exactly know what's going on in that tiny little head of yours," he began, turning his piercing eyes on his partner. Tsuzuki blinked, completely clueless.

"But you are FORBIDDEN from beating yourself up over what happened," he told the older shinigami.

Paramount surprise registered on Tsuzuki's face for a moment and Hisoka enjoyed how his eyes went wide. The full, stunning colour of his irises was perfectly displayed.

"Uh…"

"I already told you it wasn't your fault, idiot," Hisoka snapped, feeling listless as the irritation lessened with a wave of fatigue.

Tsuzuki remained silent and Hisoka didn't need his empathy to see that he may have made matters worse. He sighed gently and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He really was no good at this.

"You know, I still want you to be my partner…when you're better," Tsuzuki muttered next to him. It was Hisoka's turn to be knocked back.

"Huh?" He raised a quizzical eyebrow, feeling suddenly nervous. Tsuzuki was considering cutting ties? Where had that come fro-

'_I remember,' _he thought to himself as he watched his partner raise wary eyes to meet his. '_Tsuzuki told me that he thought our partnership might not work…is he trying to take it back?'_

Hisoka simply blinked at him and then shook his head dismissively.

"Is that what's been bothering you? You know, I didn't take what you said seriously. You were angry and angry people always say things they don't mean."

He didn't need to know how much it had hurt Hisoka. He didn't need to know how afraid Hisoka had been, wondering if he was about to be abandoned again.

Tsuzuki merely stared at the boy. He had seen the expression on Hisoka's face just before he had left the room. The hurt there had been real and raw and no matter what Hisoka said about not taking him seriously, he knew the truth. But he also realised that Hisoka was letting him off the hook, giving him an escape route to let everything go back to normal. He took it gratefully and rewarded Hisoka was an almost genuine smile.

"Thank you Hisoka."

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki sauntered into work, relishing the first bite of an apple turnover. As he moved through the hallway, he glanced up at the clock that hung just outside of Tatsumi's office and did a mental dance of joy. He was only 15 minutes late, that had to be a personal record.<p>

Skipping lightly, he pushed the door open to the main office and paused mid-step when the office was empty save for Terazuma who was lounging against the back wall with a dirty look on his face.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Tsuzuki asked through a mouthful of turnover.

"In a meeting you useless slacker," Terazuma told him, scowling at Tsuzuki and his ill gotten breakfast.

Tsuzuki groaned inwardly.

"An important one?"

Terazuma nodded.

"One that I was supposed to go to?"

Terazuma nodded again.

Tsuzuki resisted the urge to face palm and darted over to the meeting room door putting on his best innocent face, hoping against hope that Tatsumi was in a merciful mood. He knocked.

"Yes?" came Chief Konoe's voice.

Tsuzuki steeled his resolve and entered, waving cheerily at the assembled party.

"Late again!" Chief Konoe accused. "I'm going to have to start docking more than your pay if you continue like this Tsuzuki."

"Aw, but I made it here in record time!" Tsuzuki protested, pointing at the clock.

"A record time that is still late is nothing to get excited about Tsuzuki," Tatsumi's menacing voice caused shudders to run down Tsuzuki's spine. He chanced a furtive glance at the secretary and flinched when Tatsumi's glasses flashed in the glare from the sun outside.

"You were saying Chief?" Watari asked, winking at Tsuzuki when the others turned back to more serious matters.

Tsuzuki continued to munch on his turnover as the Chief began to explain the particulars of a new case that had cropped up in Tsuzuki's province. Tsuzuki's ears perked up and he listened as the Chief described a situation in which a poor soul in Saga was on the verge expiring years before she was due to appear on the Kiseki. Tsuzuki started entertaining thoughts of being allowed out of the stuffy office and back into the real world where all manner of sweets and treats awaited him, freed from the pressures of paperwork.

"So what do you think Tsuzuki?"

Tsuzuki blinked, dragged out of his daydream to find three pairs of eyes watching him expectantly. An unpleasant heat crept into his face as he tried to find a way to tell them he hadn't been listening. He grinned at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi let out a huge sigh and explained:

"We were saying that you are welcome to take the case if you so choose. It seems like quite a good one to ease you back into field work. Of course Hisoka is not yet recovered enough to accompany you so I would go in his place."

"Oh," Tsuzuki said, glancing from the Chief to Tatsumi.

Thoughts of Hisoka's anaemic face swirled in his mind as he looked into the eyes of his former partner and he couldn't help but feel this was a little betrayal, especially after telling Hisoka that he still wanted to be partners should Hisoka consent. Still, it was only a temporary deal.

"You want to work with me Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki asked, smiling openly.

Tsuzuki watched as Tatsumi's face broke out into a smile that reflected the warmth in his own.

"I look forward to it. But I warn you Tsuzuki, I am not as easily persuaded to spend beyond the budget as Kurosaki is. You will stick to your 3,500 yen allocated food expenditure per day whilst teaming up with me."

Tsuzuki visibly drooped in his seat; mourning the loss of the sweets he would now only be able to imagine tasting. He stood, making to follow Tatsumi out of the room to begin the preparations for their case when he was stopped by the Chief.

"Oh and Tsuzuki…"

He waved a note in front of him and threw it into the air, watching as it floated gently into Tsuzuki's outstretched hand.

"Bring back souvenirs."

* * *

><p>Despite Tatsumi's verbal resolve to deny Tsuzuki any frivolous expenditure, they ended up in a quaint little restaurant for dinner on the edge of the capital city. The secretary allowed his temporary partner to order the more expensive sushi set and watched indulgently as Tsuzuki speared some of the salmon and ate it with relish.<p>

"Can I order dessert?" He asked hopefully, beaming at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi was roused out of a complicated musing involving his reasons for ever choosing to disregard the partnership he'd had with Tsuzuki so it took him a while to register what his companion had asked.

"Oh, of course. Once we move out into the countryside, we'll probably be spending quite frugally so you're welcome to indulge just for tonight."

Tsuzuki's answering smile was bright and vibrant.

"Yay! Thank you Tatsumi," Tsuzuki rejoiced, spooning in another sample of salmon before turning back to his partner.

"So what were you thinking about just then?"

"Hmm?" Tatsumi's expression was subtle as he regarded the other man but Tsuzuki could see the secretiveness just below the surface.

"Nothing of much interest," Tatsumi said, waving his hand dismissively.

Tsuzuki raised a suspicious eyebrow but said nothing more, choosing instead to focus on the food until Tatsumi brought out the case file and started pouring through the notes.

"So what are the particulars?" Tsuzuki asked, only vaguely interested. Tatsumi pushed the file over so Tsuzuki could open it and see for himself. Tsuzuki pawed awkwardly through the file papers, trying to pick up sushi and open the case file at the same time. Eventually, the case fell open on the dark table and a sickly face stared up at him.

His stomach turned over.

His heart beat elevated, pounding in his ears as he stared into the eyes of the photogenic girl before him. Carefully, he set his chop sticks down and stood, mumbling something to Tatsumi about needing the bathroom.

He made a point of walking casually out of the restaurant into the little corridor where the toilets were situated. They were at the bottom of some steep stone steps and Tsuzuki all but tripped his way down them in his haste to get somewhere private. The door to the little cubicle slammed shut behind him and he was left leaning up against one of the walls struggling to control his breathing.

The girl…that little girl had looked almost exactly like…but no, it couldn't be…it was just a coincidence.

He closed his eyes and sunk down in the cubicle, grateful that the floor was cold on the back of his legs as he stretched out.

It wasn't just a coincidence. If the little girl in picture had only shared one or two facial features then he probably would have dismissed it but she was like a carbon copy of her great grandfather. She had the same eye shape, the same facial expression of discomfort, even the way her hair curled in a single ringlet by her left ear was the same.

What was he supposed to do? He was obliged by Bureau rules to report if he had a particular personal connection to a case so they could assess the situation and determine if he was fit to make a judgement based on the specifics of the situation only but how could he tell Tatsumi that this looked to be the great grand child of someone he was connected with in the most macabre and horrifying way?

How could he tell Tatsumi that this was the great grand child of someone he had murdered?

* * *

><p>After half an hour, Tatsumi was starting to get worried. He had considered following his temporary partner's trail down to the bathroom to ask what was wrong but decided against it. He didn't want to crowd Tsuzuki considering the trauma from his previous case was still disturbingly fresh and whatever had provoked his need to disappear for so long, Tatsumi felt sure Tsuzuki would confront him when he felt ready.<p>

Still, he had been gone a long time.

Just as he was about to give in to the need to find out if Tsuzuki was alright, he caught a glimpse of the man walking back through the narrow gaps between tables, waving sheepishly.

"Sorry," Tsuzuki told Tatsumi, "stomach ache."

Tatsumi was instantly aware that this was more than just a stomach ache. Tsuzuki wasn't right as he sat down and started picking at the remainder of his food. When he refused dessert saying it would be better to get to their destination before darkness fully settled in, Tatsumi knew that things were quite possibly serious.

"Tsuzuki?" he offered gently as the two of them paid and left.

"Hmm?" Tsuzuki asked, purposefully keeping his tone casual, maybe even a little groggy in keeping with the stomach ache story.

"Are you alright?" Tatsumi asked simply, letting his expression show some of the concern he was feeling.

Tsuzuki grimaced and held onto his stomach.

"Yeah, I'm fine. This is just what I get for eating the cheap out of date desserts from Fukuoka," he told his partner, hoping that if he looked pale it was because he was supposed to be feeling sick.

Tatsumi scrutinised him and it took all of Tsuzuki's will power to keep his face from crumbling. Eventually, Tatsumi sighed, rubbing beneath the rim of his glasses under his eyes.

"Maybe it's too soon to have you back in the field," he murmured, more to himself than Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki's response was immediate.

"No, I appreciate the field work," he assured Tatsumi, nodding his approval. "I would have gone stir crazy in the office."

"I must admit that Terazuma has been a lot more irritable since you have been present at your desk twenty four seven," Tatsumi admitted with a chuckle.

"That jerk," Tsuzuki added with a scowl.

Tatsumi left the restaurant with his former partner in high spirits and it was only as they started to journey out towards the countryside that the secretary realised Tsuzuki had managed to completely distract him.

* * *

><p>Tsuzuki took a few deep breaths, splashing ice cold water onto his face from the little metal basin in the corner of the bathroom. The water felt good and cool against his hot cheeks and he revelled in the sensation before wiping away the excess water. He waited for a few moments before raising a tentative hand to grip the shirt that lay over his chest.<p>

A dull ache throbbed there, pulsing butterfly light beneath his fingers.

It felt like someone had taken a pencil and was ramming it repeatedly through his heart. At first, it had started off as a mild irritation but as the night wore on, Tsuzuki had started tossing and turning as the pain increased in intensity until he was forced to get up, an illuminated silhouette in the silvery moonlight as he crept to the little bathroom in their run down investigatory base.

After a few minutes, he chanced a look in the mirror and noted with mild surprise that his own amethyst eyes were brighter than he'd ever seen them before, probably catching particles of light filtering in from the moon outside.

He huffed as the pain in his chest spiked and sat down on the edge of the bath, listening to the rhythmic breathing of Tatsumi next door. He smiled, being on a case like this with his former partner brought back a lot of fond memories though Tatsumi was true to his word and was a lot stricter with the budget than Hisoka had ever been…

Hisoka…

He wondered what he would be doing back in the infirmary. He guessed that Hisoka would be asleep given the hour and the fatigue but it was quite plausible to imagine Hisoka propped up against the pillows with some impossibly serious book leaning on the pristine white sheets. As they normally did when he thought of Hisoka in the infirmary, his thoughts shifted to the smile he had seen the day he had awoken with Hisoka safe by his side, the drug induced smile that Hisoka probably didn't even remember…

He had never seen his young partner look like that, so freely happy. He had never comprehended that it would be possible for the boy that had attracted the world's hatred to be so completely happy, to produce something so impossibly…beautiful.

There was a crippling throb in his chest that left his head spinning and his breath staggered. He struggled to take in gasps of air, to clear the spots that threatened to force him to black out.

Carefully, he sat down on the cold bathroom floor and leant forward so his head was between his legs. He focussed on taking in deep lungfuls of air until everything calmed and he was left shivering in the night.

"Tsuzuki?"

The soft question by the door had his head whipping up and a wave of nausea rolled through him.

"Hey Tatsumi," he said through a quivering grin.

"What's the matter?" Tatsumi asked, by his side in a second, holding an arm out behind his companion for support should Tsuzuki pass out and drop backwards. He could see through the bright light of the moon that Tsuzuki's skin was glistening with sweat and his face was pale, almost ghostly. He was clutching at his chest and when he looked at Tatsumi, gasping steadily, his eyes were scarily bright.

Tatsumi wasted no more time, hoisting Tsuzuki under his arm, he teleported back to the Bureau.

Hisoka almost jumped out of his skin when Tatsumi appeared beside him carrying a half conscious Tsuzuki. It took a while for the visual to sink in before he was scrambling up and peering anxiously into Tsuzuki's face

"Tsuzuki?" he asked gently.

Tsuzuki held his head up and smiled at his partner. Instantly, Hisoka recoiled, unnerved by the vibrancy of Tsuzuki's eyes.

"Must've eaten some bad sushi," he said as Tatsumi threw him down on the bed beside Hisoka.

"Bad sushi," Hisoka repeated, unconvinced. He fought to lock down the irrational panic bombarding his gut. Although the whole affair reeked of 'emergency situation', Hisoka didn't know the details and worrying about it needlessly would only make the situation worse. Tsuzuki could literally just have come home with a stomach ache…right?

"Please keep an eye on him while I phone Watari?" Tatsumi asked urgently, moving quickly and quietly from the room.

Hisoka nodded, ignoring the panic as it flared. If Tatsumi was seeking out Watari's advice at this hour, it had to be more than your average stomach ache.

He watched the back of Tatsumi's retreating figure, then shuffled closer to Tsuzuki's bed, observing as his partner curled in on himself around his chest.

"You idiot," Hisoka muttered, ignoring the familiar head spin as he stood up and moved over to sit on the edge of Tsuzuki's bed. As soon as he was close enough, he was barraged with a sharp array of complicated feelings.

First, there came the pain and attached to that a subtle ache that followed Tsuzuki's familiar pattern of guilt and self loathing. Beneath that there was a layer of dull acceptance that seemed to be leeching the life out of Tsuzuki. Hisoka whimpered as he latched on to that emotion and reached out to Tsuzuki, his hand brushing the fabric of Tsuzuki's shirt.

"Hisoka?"

He gasped, reeling back, clutching at his own chest as he felt the pressure of a darkness so profound it threatened to corrupt him through mere contact.

Tsuzuki simply forgot the pain in his chest and the heat rising from his cheeks as he watched his partner jump up as though scalded. The movement seemed to aggravate the boy's anaemia and he dropped like a stone into a hunched position on the cold, clinical floor.

"Hisoka!"

Tsuzuki tried to move, starting to roll over so he could sit up and check the young shinigami but the full force of the agony in his chest kept him fixed in the foetal position on the bed. He waited, listening to the sound of his partner's ragged breathing until it evened out and Hisoka was able to sit upright.

"Are you okay?" Tsuzuki asked through a wince as his heart gave one final lurch and the pain dissipated.

He breathed out feeling the sweet oxygen replenish him as he inhaled again. Blinking, he sat up, rubbing the spot on his chest that only throbbed with a resounding pressure, nothing more.

Hisoka stared at Tsuzuki, waiting until the nausea and need to pass out had washed through him completely.

That darkness.

It was different to the darkness he had felt emanating from Muraki, that was a sick and twisted darkness, a darkness that had been grown up and nurtured.

Somehow the darkness flowing through Tsuzuki had felt like it had always been there, buried beneath layers of what Hisoka could only gage was Tsuzuki himself. Just how complicated was his partner?

"Are you alright?" Tsuzuki repeated, his attention turned fully on the youth now his own pain had ebbed.

"Yes…I'm fine," Hisoka said slowly, feeling the creep of embarrassment as he realised how weak he must have looked then. He glared at Tsuzuki.

"Don't lie to me Tsuzuki. The pain is in your chest, not your stomach," Hisoka accused, emphasising this statement with a finger point.

Tsuzuki's eyes widened.

"I just didn't want anyone to worry," he said sheepishly.

Hisoka opened his mouth, prepared to give himself over to a good old fashioned rant. Just what was he going to tell the scientist when Watari finally appeared? Would he tell the truth to procure a real diagnosis? Didn't he realise that people were going to worry about him whether it was a heart attack or heart burn?

But his mouth snapped shut again as he regarded his partner and looked into those deep set eyes, eyes that had lost the startling vibrancy.

"Idiot," Hisoka sighed, heaving himself up to sit down beside Tsuzuki, pulling on his partner's shirt so he was laying with his head in Hisoka's lap.

One touch confirmed his suspicion that Tsuzuki's emotions were subduing, he was returning to normal. He grit his teeth as he felt a burning sensation directly related to his proximity but he abstained from the desire to brake the contact and move away from his partner.

Tsuzuki needed the contact.

A million thoughts and feelings were starting to seep into his system but they died out again as Tsuzuki remembered the youth's empathy and pulled up his shields, strengthening them so Hisoka could only feel the dull buzz.

He tried not to freak out too much at the contact he'd initiated. He tried not to be swept up in thoughts that his rare display of impulsiveness was a total mistake.

Tsuzuki tried hard not to move, not breathe as his head fell into the soft folds of Hisoka's hospital gown. All previous thoughts were wiped from his mind in wake of this new proximity. He made quick work of raising his mental shields, relieving Hisoka of the burdens that only ever applied to direct physical contact. He wanted the youth to be as comfortable as possible, especially if he was the one that had chosen to inaugurate contact.

He lay like that for a long time, trying to decipher Hisoka's motives, wondering if this was something that his partner had been building up to. It came as a surprise when he felt the hand on his head, brushing over his hair.

"You don't have to lie to me," Hisoka whispered, his hand smoothing out the tangles in Tsuzuki's hair.

Predictably, Watari chose that moment to barrel into the infirmary, his hair in a wild mess about his head. He had a stethoscope in one hand and his glasses in the other. By the time he'd pushed the glasses onto his nose, Hisoka had shoved Tsuzuki off and was looking pointedly out of the window, his face burning.

Watari blinked blearily as Tsuzuki sat up and beamed brightly.

"Well you seem absolutely fine!" Watari told him exasperatedly, shooting Tatsumi a dirty look as the secretary manoeuvred into the room. Tatsumi ignored Watari and hurried over to Tsuzuki, checking his eyes.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry I was gone so long, it's virtually impossible to get Watari up in the middle of the night."

"For good reason," the scientist grumbled, pulling out the emergency medical kit and making light work of checking Tsuzuki's vital signs.

When he pressed the cold stethoscope to Tsuzuki's chest, Tsuzuki blanched.

"You could have warmed it up Watari," he complained.

Watari shot him a look to rival Hisoka's disdainful glare and frowned as he concentrated on Tsuzuki's heart beat.

There was a pause in the room as Watari counted each ticking beat of Tsuzuki's heart. When he stood up, his expression was puzzled.

"There's a slight irregularity in your heart beat but otherwise you seem perfectly healthy."

Tsuzuki shrugged and smiled.

"Maybe it was supposed to be a 24 hour thing," he suggested meriting an eyebrow raise from everyone in the room. "With my shinigami healing abilities, perhaps I could have gotten over it quicker than most people."

"I feel fine, really," he added as an afterthought.

Watari thought for a minute and jotted a note in the little note pad usually kept in the medical case. He'd write up the report in the morning.

"You," he pointed to Tatsumi, "owe me big time. And you," he pointed to Tsuzuki, "get some rest."

With that said, the scientist stalked across the room and disappeared down the corridor, his slippers slapping on the tiles in the night.

* * *

><p>After a small debate with himself, Tatsumi decided that it would be best to spend the rest of the night in the Bureau infirmary. Although Tsuzuki insisted that he felt absolutely fine, better than fine even, Tatsumi wanted to remain in the infirmary to avoid further incident.<p>

Tsuzuki lay in the dark, watching the sleeping form of Hisoka as his chest rose and fell. He became aware of the nightmare as the regular breathing hitched, as the youth started shuddering beneath the sheet draped haphazardly over his shoulders. As always, Hisoka was virtually silent in the midst of his nightmares, the only sounds to give him away were the gasping breaths that occasionally punctured the quiet of the night.

Tsuzuki sat up, let his eyes rest fleetingly on the sleeping form of Tatsumi in the bed across from him and shifted so he was crouched before Hisoka watching the discomfort of the nightmare play out over his features. He reached up and let his hand rest gently on Hisoka's hair, pulling some of the finer strands away from the boy's face.

"It's okay Hisoka, I'm here…" Tsuzuki whispered through the dark.

He let his other hand fall onto the fist balled up in the sheets and began to trace faint patterns in a repetitive motion designed to calm his uneasy partner. He watched the shadows of old and new ghosts as they were exorcised from Hisoka's dreams and smiled a small personal smile as the fist in the sheets became lax and Hisoka's breathing slowed.

When he was sure the boy was back in a deep slumber, he stood, automatically turning to observe the form of the secretary in the bed across the room. He stifled a yawn as he slipped back into his own bed, snuggling down in the sheets with his face turned towards Hisoka's slight form.

He still wasn't exactly sure what his feelings towards his stand-offish young partner were but he was beginning to get a clearer idea. He drifted off to sleep indulging in the memory of Hisoka pulling him down into the warm folds of his lap and of the hesitant touch lightly ruffling the tresses of his hair.

Tsuzuki never realised that on the opposite side of the room, Tatsumi's eyes had fallen open in the dark and had tracked his every move through the shadows. Complicated feelings had stirred inside him as he watched his former partner comforting Hisoka; feelings that he no longer knew how to deal with.

* * *

><p>The day dawned bright over the agricultural fields of Saga. Tsuzuki took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, beaming at Tatsumi as the two of them trekked towards the farm house situated by the edge of thick green woods. They walked on a pathway high above the irrigated field land, gazing across at a picture that made Tsuzuki think of his child hood days.<p>

The farm house itself was dilapidated and in need some minor repairs but it looked well lived in. They could hear the voices of the family within as they approached, indicating that someone at least had been permitted to stay home, probably to receive visitors and to look after the sick girl.

Tsuzuki knocked once on the door and waited until a haggard looking woman peered out at them.

"Hello?" she asked warily.

"Good morning, I'm doctor Seiichirou," Tatsumi began. "I've been called down from Tokyo by doctor Mitona to take a look at your daughter Yui?"

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't informed of anything like this," she told him, a little hostile towards unexpected guests so early in the morning.

"Ah, forgive me, clearly doctor Mitona has been unable to contact you. I shall, perhaps, return another time."

Tatsumi motioned for Tsuzuki to go but at the last minute, the woman reached out a desperate hand and gripped the edge of Tatsumi's coat.

"Wait! Please…if you are here…her condition…it's…"

Tatsumi smiled a compassionate smile at the woman and she hesitatingly returned it, beckoning for the pair to follow her inside. The interior of the house was sparsely furnished, but Tsuzuki noticed nothing. All of his attention was taken up with the impending meeting, the moment where he would be introduced to the great grand daughter of one of his own murder victims.

He knew that in a situation like this, he could only act with the utmost professionalism otherwise it would be impossible for them to get close to the girl again. He knew this, yet he couldn't help the sheen of sweat that broke over his forehead. He clutched blindly at his chest.

"She's just through there," the woman pointed to the end of the corridor where a door was set in the left side of the wall.

"Please do what you can?" the woman begged, barely holding in tears.

"Don't worry, we'll do everything possible," Tsuzuki assured her before Tatsumi could interject. Tatsumi shook his head subtly at his temporary partner's rash promises and stalked his way along the hall, pausing at the door to knock.

"Hello?"

A weak voice answered him, high pitched with youth. Tatsumi pushed the door to and beheld the girl he knew by photographic face alone. Tsuzuki followed him, followed his gaze and drew back.

The girl was sitting on the edge of her bed by the back window, dressed in a shirt that was clearly designed for an adult. The cloth hung from her back where a mark was visible just on the shoulder blade, a mark that greatly resembled a tattoo.

When she heard the floorboards squeak under their feet, she turned and stared at them with huge bright red eyes, smirking.

* * *

><p><em>Reviews are the sweet things on Chief Konoe's desk.<em>

_EDIT: I was thinking this morning when I got up about Tsuzuki's age and the time line of my story and realised that I got a bit trigger happy with the 'greats' when describing the girl so I've taken off a generation. The text now reads 'great grand child' rather than 'great great grand child'. _


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